


MCYT: Short Tales (MCYT One-shots)

by Quint_Viridian



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft Youtubers, mcyt
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fantasy AU, Fantasy/fiction, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Masquerade, Medieval AU, Mostly Platonic, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28997154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quint_Viridian/pseuds/Quint_Viridian
Summary: A bunch of short tales involving block people!I have migrated from Wattpad (@/QuintViridian) and copy pasted my One-shot book here. I'm sorry if there are any errors because I am still foreign to AO3.>Chapters may be edited later than intended to<[I mean no disrespect to the Content Creators here! I will NOT be sexualising ANYONE. There will mostly be platonic relationships, but also romantic ones. I try my best to stay within everyone's boundaries and try to avoid very heavy angst/sensitive topics towards a CC.]
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Skeppy/Badboyhalo, skephalo - Relationship, zelkpvp - Relationship
Kudos: 16





	1. {Greetings} - Introduction

《Table of Contents》

Captured | TommyInnit

Special Day | Soul-Seeking (On Wattpad)

A Blast from the Past | SBI/Dream SMP

New Friend | Skephalo (platonic) | Fluff

My Vacant Friend | Skephalo (platonic?) | Angst

Good ol' Days | Soul-Seeking (Dream Team?) | Somehwat hurt-comfort

Dear Past Self | Kingdom AU (SBI-ish) | Angst 

Strange Masquerade | Idots-ish/ZelkPVP (platonic) 

"An Old Friend" | ZelkPVP (platonic) | Fluff-ish turned Angst

A Sneaky Getaway | Skephalo (platonic) | Fluff

Rest Up, You'll Need It | Rivalsduo??? Rivalstwt??? Idk, I don't want to call it Dreamnoblade | Fluff


	2. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy get's captured an discovers a great family secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||994 words||  
> AU: (Inspired by) Relive, Reborn, Repeat (Aria_Cinabun on AO3).  
> Ships: None.  
> Warning(s): Blood.

The last thing Tommy remembered was walking down an empty street at night, enjoying the breeze that brushed against his skin.

Probably wasn't the brightest idea.

His back was put against a cold, stone wall. The room was small and had thick, metal bars, preventing anyone from escaping. There were no windows, only small, faint torches gave out light in the dungeon.

Tommy abruptly woke up and looked at his surroundings. He attempted to stand up but regretted it when pain shot through his left leg. All his limbs felt sore and his legs felt numb. He attempted to stand up again, tripping over himself in the process. Once he finally snapped into his senses, a rush of panic went through him, making him rush towards the bars. He felt both of his arms being held back and turned around, realizing that an unusual handcuff that fully covered his hands instead of his wrists were holding him, along with metal chains that were stuck to the ground. He kept tugging on the cuffs in hopes of getting lose, but it was no use.

Light footsteps echoed around the dungeon, getting louder as it got closer. Tommy became frightened once his eyes caught a glimpse of the male figure. He had an abnormal amount of bandages that looked like they haven't been changed in forever. There was a huge scar across the left side of his face, and it looked like it was recent. His posture was awful, he looked like he could fall over at any moment.

The man eyed the sixteen-year-old up and down then stared at him straight in the eye, smiling menacingly.

"Don't worry kid, you're in _safe_ hands," the man said in a raspy voice that stung Tommy's ears. "Bring in the boss!"

Tommy braced himself as the boss walked in. He expected the boss to be worse, judging by how the man in front of him looked like, but the boss was far from that. Unlike the man, the boss wore a black suit with a red tie, not a single visible scratch. He looked surprisingly clean and sophisticated.

The boss bent forward and looked at Tommy, the teen not even hesitating to stare at him back. The boss smirked and got to his previous pose.

"What's your name, kid?" the boss asked softly, but harshly.

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Tommy said. "And I am not a kid."

The boss let out an annoyed grunt. "Fine, have it your way, but if you don't cooperate, I'll go visit your little _family_ ," the boss smirked. "Let me ask again, what's your name?"

Tommy narrowed his eyes. He didn't know if he was playing with him or not, he could already know his name for all he knows. He still didn't want to give away his actual name, though, so he quickly made up one.

"...Ander," Tommy said.

The boss raised an eyebrow. "No full name?"

Tommy glared at him.

"Fine, first name works," the boss said. "Do you have an idea on why you're here?"

"What makes you think I have a ******* clue?" Tommy responded without thinking.

The boss only narrowed his eyes. "I'll allow cursing, but watch your mouth, kid, or else." Tommy was about to say something until the boss gestured towards a sharp, diamond sword. He quickly shut his mouth.

"Did you know that your father is a rare species that hasn't been spotted in centuries?" the boss asked.

Tommy looked at him with a confused expression. "Humans have existed for millenniums dumb-" he got cut off by the boss glaring at him, reminding him to be careful with his words.

"I should've known he'd kept his little secret all to himself," the boss snickered.

Tommy was only getting more curious by the second. "Is he...not human?"

The boss looked at Tommy with a sly smile. "To make it easier for you, let's say that he's a... _winged human_."

Tommy tilted his head.

"Your father is a majestic creature, kid," the boss finished.

"Then why am I here?" Tommy asked.

The boss smirked. "I have been...observing you from the shadows, and let's just say..." the boss's words trailed off as he picked up the diamond sword next to him and entered Tommy's prison, pointing the weapon towards him. "You're going to be the start of a whole new era."

Tommy widened his eyes as the boss swung the diamond sword, slicing open his chest. He felt an abnormal amount of unbearable pain that he could never have imagined. He wanted to scream so loud, but couldn't as the life in him slowly drained. Eventually, he felt nothing. Darkness was all he saw, there was no pain, he only felt numbness. He couldn't move and he couldn't breathe. He suddenly felt something warm on his back. It was a tingling feeling, and he sort of liked it. As he slowly got his feeling back, a shot of pain ran through him. Every part of him was sore, he couldn't move a muscle. Most of the pain was gone, and that left Tommy confused. He thought he was...dead. He was dead. Slowly, he opened his eyes and tilted his head upwards, pain shot through him once again. He saw the boss's menacing smile, still holding the sword that was now covered in blood, his blood, in his hands. He saw something glowing, almost as if it was on fire, beside him. He adjusted his eyes only to realize they were feathers. He could feel them, he could move them. He fully turned around to see a pair of bright, fiery wings on his back. He widened his eyes even more when he realized that he was sitting in a pool of blood, but he wasn't bleeding. He finally looked back at the boss, with eyes filled with rage and confusion.

The boss only chuckled.

"Welcome back to the mortal world, _phoenix_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my first writings, so it feels a bit...messy, but acceptable for me.


	3. Special Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy is given a pleasant surprise from is friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1462 words||  
> AU: Soul-Seeking by Faded-Red on Wattpad  
> Ship(s): None.  
> Warning(s): None.  
> Note: This was a gift for the Soul-Seeking anniversary on December 21st

Skeppy was walking down the streets with A6D, watching the bright, orange sky fade into the dark, blue sky sprinkled with stars. It had been an exhausting day, so the group decided to settle down at a nearby town. The town was filled with picturesque buildings. The lamp posts illuminated the streets as people walked by. It kind of reminded Skeppy of home, and he knew that A6D felt the same. Dream and Bad told them that they had to take care of a few things while they're here, and as for Zelk and Mega, well, Skeppy didn't bother to find them. The day was slow despite all the events that happened, but Skeppy didn't mind. Although, he couldn't help but get the feeling that he was supposed to do something today. He suspected it to be some kind of holiday, but since no one appeared to be celebrating anything, he shook that idea off. They passed countless stores and restaurants, until they came to a halt - well, A6D came to a halt. Skeppy was confused, and before he had the chance to ask, A6D spoke up. 

"Oh right I forgot, I have to take care of something while we're here," A6D said, turning his direction towards the forest.

Skeppy raised an eyebrow. "Take care of what?"

A6D looked back at him and smiled a bit, "What? You wanna come?"

Skeppy looked at the ground and paused before answering. He didn't have much to do here, maybe going with A6D wouldn't hurt. Skeppy nodded as a response and A6D gestured towards the direction that they should go. 

Skeppy didn't know why they were heading into the forest, but decided not to question it. The forest was unusually beautiful tonight. Fireflies flew all around them, illuminating the trees. The moonlight reflected off of the trees, making the forest brighter. It was a beautiful sight, and Skeppy wondered if this was Zelk’s doing. Eventually, they came across a dirt path and walked down it. What could A6D possibly need to do here? They ducked below branches and hopped over mud puddles, a few fireflies following them. 

“Where exactly are we going?” Skeppy asked. 

A6D ignored him and continued walking. Skeppy became frustrated and kept following him. He better not prank me or anything.

As they went on, a grey rock arch came into view. The opening was covered in thick, green vines that had flowers growing on it. Two boulders sat on each side or the opening, both covered in moss. Is this the place A6D had to go to?  
Skeppy felt a sudden, cold feeling run down his spine and shivered slightly. He thought that Mega was nearby, and when Mega was nearby Zelk shouldn’t be far behind. He looked around to see if he could spot the two, but no fae or guardian could be found. He looked back to see A6D tugging on his sleeve. 

“Don’t you want to enter?” he asked.

Skeppy slightly raised his eyebrow as A6D led him to the thick vines. He moved the vines out of the way and gestured for Skeppy to follow him. Skeppy ducked under the thick vines to be met with a dark, open space. He turned to A6D to ask but he disappeared. Skeppy started to panic a little and desperately looked around for his friend, but he was nowhere to be found. He could barely see anything due to the darkness. He kept walking forwards, in hopes of bumping into something. Then, a firefly flew towards him, inches away from his face. Skeppy stared at the firefly as the dark space started to illuminate with the tiny creatures. Hundreds of fireflies floated around the area, revealing a huge, beautiful, pink-ish purple Wisteria Tree. It had a big, dark, curvy trunk and long, curvy branches. Its colorful leaves looked like sparkling crystals. It looked like thousands of fairy lights dangling on the branches. At the bottom of the majestic tree, he could spot a few candles that circled around its trunk, a couple of benches, a long wooden table with a bunch of food on it, and…

His friends.

A6D had a small fire illuminating on his finger, it looked like he just finished lighting the candles. Bad was sitting on a bench with his hood up, Dream was leaning on the tree’s trunk, Zelk was standing next to A6D, holding his staff that looked like it gave out a faint glow, and Mega was standing still near the tree’s trunk with his arms crossed, looking at Skeppy. 

Questions were spiraling in Skeppy’s head by now. Didn’t Bad and Dream say that they had to take care of something? Did they have to take care of whatever this is? And did A6d have to deal with this too? No wonder he felt a cold shiver run down his spine, Mega was nearby, and he wasn’t wrong about Zelk being near as well. He wanted to ask about everything, but only managed to get one thing out of his mouth. 

“Wh-”

“Happy birthday, idiot,” A6D said as he extinguished the fire on his finger. 

He smirked a bit, along with Dream and Bad. Skeppy was extremely confused. The heck? Birthday? What even is the date today? How could he forget his own birthday?  
Skeppy had a confused expression, unable to say anything. He was in the state of shock and confusion, but one question took over his mind: Did A6D really remember his birthday? Or was he lying? Skeppy would be surprised to know that his friend remembered his birthday and not him, and it kind of made him happy that he remembered. 

“Happy birthday, Skeppy!” Bad said as he got up from the bench and smiled. 

“Wh- How?” Skeppy managed to mutter out. 

“A6D told us about your birthday, so we spent the whole day setting it up,” Dream said. “Bad prepared all the food, Zelk gathered the fireflies and found this place, I made the pathway, Mega made the finishing touches to the tree, and A6D kept you busy until we were done.”

Skeppy continued to stare at them in shock. “Why?”

“Eh, you deserved it after all of that. Isn’t that right, Mega?” Zelk nudged the fae and Mega quickly stepped away. 

_“Sure.”_ The fae responded in his usual, sarcastic tone. He didn’t know why he agreed to do all of this, but not like he could go anywhere and do what he wanted. They stood in silence until a laugh escaped from A6D.

“I can’t believe you forgot your own birthday!” he said in between laughs. “You’d usually keep bugging me about your birthday for a full week! Seeing you forgetting about it really is a relief.” The young mage’s laugh quickly faded. 

Skeppy couldn’t help but stand there in shock. He didn’t remember when he started smiling, but decided to embrace this moment. It had been a rough few months, celebrating his birthday would definitely refuel his energy. He didn’t know why but he wanted to embrace them all in a hug, but resisted the urge, since that would be a bit awkward. 

Zelk noticed Skeppy’s shock expression and spoke up. “We didn’t set this all up just for you to stand there and do nothing, just celebrate and eat already!”

“Thank you,” Skeppy managed to say. 

At that note, the group began to settle on the ground - well, Zelk and Mega sat on the benches - and grabbed some food. Skeppy joined in. They were laughing, joking around, and told each other their hilarious experiences - well, Skeppy and A6D did, the others just sat there listening. Of course, Zelk made his usual bad jokes and earned a round of groans and a snowball in the face by none other than Mega.  
It was a beautiful night. The fireflies still shone brightly and the Wisteria Tree still sparkled, as if glitter had stuck to its leaves. But they weren’t glitter, Skeppy realised, but ice. The ice frosted the tree, from the leaves to the trunk, just sprinkles of ice dust. Zelk probably made sure to keep the tree alive while Mega worked his magic, so the tree wouldn’t wither away. 

Skeppy wanted this to last forever, just laughing and joking around with the group, or what Skeppy liked to call them: his friends. Alas, happiness has to come to an end at some point. Either it will be a new kind of happiness, or just total sadness. But Skeppy was ready for both, at least that’s what he thinks. He didn’t give much thought into it and enjoyed the remaining time he had left. After this, he’ll be faced with more challenges, encounter more friends and foes, and uncover more secrets.

And us readers will be watching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was an anniversary gift for a fanfiction that I truly adore, but it is published only on Wattpad (Soul-Seeking).


	4. A Blast from the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A group of friends go on a journey to explore the ruins of what once was a great country, but one of them has to deal with a strange nostalgia attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1584 words||Angst/Fluff||  
> AU: Reincarnation AU.  
> Ship(s): None.  
> Warning(s): Mentions of stabbing.  
> Note: Before anyone gets confused, since the DSMP hasn't finished yet, the ending of it for this AU will be different. All I'm gonna say is that everyone and everything ended up getting destroyed. All historic notes, any info on the DSMP, are gone.

"C'mon, wake up already!"

Wilbur groaned as he woke up. Sun rays that were shining through the curtain made their way towards his eyes, almost blinding them. He extended his right arm towards the bedside table and grabbed his glasses. Once he had equipped them, he could clearly see his younger brother jumping on his bed.

Wilbur rolled his eyes and stood up, turning his gaze towards the sixteen-year-old.

"What are you? Five?" Wilbur chuckled, gently nudging Tommy.

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy said. "C'mon, we're going to go on a trip today."

Wilbur raised an eyebrow. "Trip? Today?" He wasn't aware of any discussion about a field trip on the fifth of December, so the sudden news surprised him.

"Yeah, Techno and I found a bunch of ruins in the forest when we got back from college. We invited a bunch of people to check it out."

"And no one told me?" Wilbur asked, tone lowering.

Tommy scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...I guess we forgot to tell you."

Wilbur rolled his eyes and smiled, nudging him once more. He quickly made his bed and head to the bathroom. The floor in the hallway was littered with long, pink strands, all of them belonging to his twin.

Techno was in the bathroom brushing his long, soft pink hair. Wilbur didn't understand why Techno never cut his hair. He grew it out from the age of sixteen, precisely three years ago. When he reached the age of seventeen, he started to dye his hair pink. Techno often asked for Wilbur's help to braid his hair when necessary.

Their bathroom was fairly large, so it was easy for three people to get ready all at the same time. Wilbur gave Techno a wave as he entered.

"You need help to braid it?" Wilbur asked, referring to his hair. Techno nodded and handed him a hair tie and brush. Wilbur was done after ten minutes, Techno's braid looking as flawless as usual.

Techno thanked Wilbur and left him to get ready. He settled on wearing his red beanie and a yellow sweater.

By the time he was done, the smell of freshly baked pancakes filled the house. Wilbur rushed down the stairs, following the smell coming from the kitchen. Phil was washing his hands until he noticed that Wilbur had arrived for breakfast and waved.

Although Wilbur didn't like the sudden announcement of a field trip, he had to admit that he was beyond excited.

Wilbur took a seat at the dining table and began to eat, conversing with Techno after every bite.

"So, who's gonna come?" Wilbur asked Techno as he finished that last of his food.

"Eh, ask Tommy." Techno gestured towards the teen lying on the sofa, swiping away on his phone. Tommy seemed to have heard Wilbur's question and sat back up.

"Niki, Fundy, Big Q, Tubbo, Dream, Eret, Sapnap, George, Ant, Bad, Skeppy, Sam, Ranboo, Punz...like I said, a lot of people."

"You told all those people and not me?" Wilbur asked, his tone a mixture of offended and upset, but in a light-hearted way.

Tommy only shrugged.

The boys were already prepared and were waiting for Phil, who was looking for his stripped green hat. Techno soon found it under the sofa, so now things could get back on track.

Their first stop was Tubbo's place. The teen's smile was very wide, seemingly making his cheeks sore. Once they've gathered Tubbo, they continued to stop by at their other friends' house. Everyone couldn't contain their excitement much longer. They were practically a bunch of lions ready to escape its cage.

The ruins, as Tommy had said, were deep in the forest, not so far from their college. They strolled past many tall, spectacular trees that were practically towering over them. Thick snow covered the dirt path. It looked like a soft, white blanket. The only difference is, instead of keeping you warm, it will most likely give you frostbite if you stay under it for too long.

Thirty minutes had past, and they've arrived at their destination. Just as Tommy and Techno had promised, the clearing was littered with bits and pieces of old structures. Some rusty, and others somehow still maintaining their original form. Lakes, rivers, and other waterways were fully frozen.

The group stared at the scene in awe. Tommy took a step forward and stood on top of large, flat rock.

"Everyone, I present to you, the ruins of L'manberg!" Tommy exclaimed excitedly.

_"L'MANBERG MY UNFINISHED SYMPHONY!"_

Wilbur held his head in pain. The mysterious words echoed through his mind, giving him an unpleasant headache. No one seemed to notice, so he shook it off, and joined in on exploring the place.

They found many old weapons underneath the ruins. The weapons still had dry, dark crimson blood on them. They were cracked and seemed like they could turn to dust at any moment.

"Yeesh, what has these weapons been through?" Fundy said, holding a busted, iron sword in his hands.

"This one seemed to survive." Niki held an intricate purplish-brown colored sword in her hands. It had and old, bright red cloth wrapped around it's handle. She accidently swung the sword towards Fundy, him nearly dodging the blade.

"Sorry, Fundy!" Niki said with guilt. "I wonder what material it was made out of for it to survive all these years."

Techno walked up to her and extended his hand. Niki gave him the sword. Techno gripped it tightly and started swinging it flawlessly, as if he had had used a sword before. He spun it around and did various stances, pointing the sharp weapon towards his friends.

"Alright, let's not try to stab anyone, yeah?" Phil said, chuckling.

_"Stab me, stab me, Phil. MURDER ME NOW!"_

Wilbur winced as the mysterious words echoed through his mind once again. The words were clearer than the last time. The voice sounded like it belonged to...him?

Wilbur stood there, confused. How could it belong to him? He had never said any of those words. Yet, why do they sound familiar? In fact, the ruins of L'manberg almost felt...nostalgic. How does one feel nostalgic over something that they've never experienced? Wilbur didn't recognize the ruins, but it was certainly not foreign to him.

He felt something warm settle onto his shoulder. It was Phil. He looked at Wilbur with concern in his eyes.

"You okay, Wil?" Phil asked.

Wilbur took a deep, heavy breath. "Y-yeah, just, had a nightmare last night, y'know?"

"But you were fine this morning."

"I guess I've only started remembering it now," Wilbur shrugged. Maybe he was right, maybe it was just a nightmare. It still didn't explain the nostalgic feeling, though.

Phil gave him a reassuring smile. "Well, it was just a nightmare, so don't worry too much about it. Just have fun with the others, and you'll forget about it."

Wilbur smiled. He appreciated his father's help. "Thanks, Phil."

"Of course. You're my son, after all."

_"Y-YOUR MY SON!"_

Wilbur's breath became uneven, but Phil didn't seem to notice. He was tired of the voices. He wished they could just leave.

Snowballs flew over Wilbur's head. Tommy, Tubbo, Eret, Dream, and Quackity were having a snowball fight. Dream had created a small snow wall to keep him cover and shot countless snowballs at Tubbo, Tommy, and Eret. Three against two. The boys were giggling and shouting. Eret threw a bunch of snowballs at Tubbo and Tommy, making fall backwards.

"**** YOU, ERET! TRAITOR!" Tommy exclaimed between laughs.

_"It was never meant to be."_

Wilbur suddenly felt like he was drowning. He couldn't breathe. His head was spinning and he felt like he was about to fall over. Fortunately for him, he didn't. He snapped out of his trance and took deep breaths. There goes the mysterious words, but this time, it sounded like it belonged to Eret.

I need to sit down. Wilbur settled down on a large rock and brought out his guitar. Playing some beautiful tunes will help calm him down, and maybe get rid of the stupid voices.

He sang a beautiful tune, calming the atmosphere around him. The snowball fight died down into just playing in the snow and making snow angels (Tubbo and Niki talked them into doing it). Wilbur's singing trailed off into a familiar tune.

 _"Well, I heard there was a special place, where men could go and emancipate,"_ Wilbur strummed his guitar.

_"The brutality and tyranny of their ruler."_

_"Well, this place is real, we needn't fret."_

_"With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, **** Eret."_

Wilbur could hear Eret making an offended sound.

_"It's a very big place, not blown up, L'manberg."_

_"My L'manberg. My L'manberg. My L'manberg. My L'manberg~"_

Everyone stared at Wilbur with confused looks.

"Wil, what did you just sing?" Niki asked.

Wilbur looked down at his guitar and narrowed his eyes. What he said next surprised him.

"I...I think it was L'manberg's anthem."

"How could you know its anthem? There's barely any source of information of this place," Fundy said, growing more curious.

Wilbur's hands were shaking. He didn't know what he did, either. How could he know? What was happening to him?

"I-I-I don't know! It's just..." his voice trailed off as he caressed his hands on the guitar strings.

"I just feel like I've lost a home that I've never even lived at."

...

_"I've never had the opportunity to finish my symphony."_


	5. New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad and Skeppy becomes friends, basically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1180 words||Fluff||  
> AU: Child AU (by @/bebyebeeh on Twitter).   
> Ship(s): Skephalo (Platonic).  
> Warning(s): None.  
> Note: I need some serotonin rn.

Skeppy breathed in the fresh air as raindrops fell onto his palm, droplets sharp but not painful. He was (im)patiently waiting for his ride in front of the school entrance. It was cold; he was wearing his usual cyan hoodie to keep him warm. He wanted to go back home, he didn't like school. He didn't like being a second grader all that much if he was being honest.

Light footsteps could be heard from behind him. He turned his head towards the noise out of curiosity and was met with a brown-haired fifth-grader who was holding a container of muffins in his hands. The fifth-grader seemed to notice Skeppy and kept walking towards him.

"Hello! What are you still doing here?" the boy said with a friendly tone.

"The teacher said my parents were stuck in traffic," Skeppy responded. His gaze fell onto the container of baked goods the boy was holding. "Did you make that?"

The boy looked at the container that he was holding and nodded. "Yup! Baked it in cooking class. Do you want one?"

Skeppy's eyes lit up and he nodded, a little too aggressively. The boy chuckled lightly, opened the container and grabbed a muffin, giving it to Skeppy.

Skeppy happily took it and took a bite. The boy smiled when he saw Skeppy'a face lit up and proceeded to devour the muffin.

"You like it?"

"Yes!" Skeppy exclaimed happily.

The boy took a seat on the floor next to Skeppy. "I'm Bad, what's your name?"

"Skeppy."

"Well, I'm glad you liked my muffin, Skeppy," Bad said with a warm smile. Skeppy liked Bad, he seemed like a nice guy, and it's rare to find people like that in his school. 

A black car drove in front of them, making its stop. The raindrops bouncing off of the car roof lightly sprinkled onto them. The car's window went down to reveal a woman with brown, wavy hair, with a smile similar to Bad's.

"Oh! That's my ride. I'll see you again tomorrow Skeppy!" Bad said as he picked up his container of muffins and entered his car, rolling down the window to give Skeppy a wave of goodbye.

Skeppy smiled. For once, he was excited for school tomorrow.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"C'mon! C'mon! Why are you so slow?!"

Bad giggled as Skeppy tugged his arm towards the playground. It had been two weeks since they've met each other, and they've never been closer.

Bad promised Skeppy that they would go and play at the playground after rainy season, but he didn't expect him to wear a helmet and carry a sword, more specifically a bicycle helmet and a wooden sword.

There were very few people at the playground due to the frequent rainstorms, so they had a section of the playground all to themselves.

They were standing next to one of those huge slides with a small area on top of it for kids to play in. Well, Bad was standing, Skeppy was running and jumping around like an excited puppy.

"Bad, Bad! I'm gonna protect you from the bad guys!" Skeppy was holding out his wooden sword, seeming to be ready to fight whatever that was going to "hurt" Bad.

"I don't think I'm in danger, Geppy..." Bad giggled as the seven-year-old swung his sword all over the place.

Skeppy swung his sword and pointed it towards anything that he thought was moving. He was having a lot of fun until he accidently slipped in a puddle a fell. Bad rushed to his side to see if he was okay.

"Ow..." Bad could see a small scar on Skeppy's hand that was only slightly bleeding. His sleeves were wet and he quietly whimpered.

"Hey, don't worry, let me fix it." Bad held out his hand, waiting for Skeppy to hold out his. Eventually, Skeppy held out his hand with the scar and settled it onto Bad's hand. Bad lightly wiped the bits of blood from the scar with his shirt, careful not to hurt him. He lightly blowed on it and looked at Skeppy.

"There, all better. It's a small scar, so you don't need a bandaid," Bad said and smiled. Skeppy looked down at his hand a smiled, hugging Bad.

"Thank you!" Skeppy said.

Bad returned the hug while rubbing Skeppy's back. "You're welcome, you muffin."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Skeppy was a...unique kid, as Bad would say it. He loved his friend, but sometimes, even he couldn't understand how his mind worked, but he still loved him.

"I just wanted sand and no one will give me sand. I just want a little sand..." Bad heard Skeppy whine. Skeppy was sitting with his knees to his chest, hugging them tightly as small tears rolled down his cheeks.

Bad sighed and took a seat on the floor next to Skeppy. He settled his hand on Skeppy's shoulder in hopes of calming him down.

"Aw, Geppy...I'll get you sand, okay?" Bad said with a calm, friendly tone.

Skeppy seemed to cry even more, but it was out of happiness. He broke out of his current position and hugged Bad. The sudden gesture surprised him, but he quickly gave into the hug.

"It's okay Geppy, you don't need to cry! I'll get you sand, okay? I'll find some for you, don't worry!" Bad reassured him and rubbed his back, keeping him close.

"I love you," Skeppy said between sniffles.

Hearing his words warmed Bad's heart to the point that he wanted to cry. They sat there for a few more minutes, enjoying each other's company.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Bad was walking down the halls of the third floor. He had just finished Biology and he thought his head was about to explode. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, so Bad had to shield his face to prevent from getting blinded.

He was in a really good mood that day, so he couldn't wait to come back home and take in the possible surprises before him.

He walked down the stairs onto the first floor. Many kids and teens were laughing and joking around, loudly.

Before he got the chance to exit the school, someone tugged on his sleeve. He turned around only to smile when he realized that it was his friend.

"Bad! Bad!" Skeppy exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey, Geppy," Bad said with his usual friendly tone. "What are you up to?"

Bad tilted his head as Skeppy began to rummage through his backpack. Once he found what he was looking for, he presented it to Bad with a hug smile.

"This is for you!" Skeppy said happily.

Bad covered his mouth to muffle his (happy) sniffles. Skeppy was holding out a drawing of him and Bad, with "❤Best Friends💙" written on top of them. Skeppy got slightly concerned when Bad started to cry.

"D...do you like it?" Skeppy asked, voice slightly cracking.

Bad nodded and brought Skeppy into a tight hug. "Of course, Geppy, I love it! Thank you, you muffin."

Skeppy hugged him back, leaning into his comfort.

"Happy birthday!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I made myself cry /pos.
> 
> This is my first time writing something wholesome and taking it seriously so please go easy on me-


	6. My Vacant Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy slowly starts to slip away as Bad desperately tries to save him, both losing hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1667 words||Angst||  
> AU: None (Dream SMP).  
> Ship(s): Skephalo (Platonic?)  
> Warning(s): Losing a loved one (not death).  
> Note: Idk if writing skephalo angst after writing skephalo fluff is a good idea. I suggest listening to Vacant Eyes by Hayd :) This oneshot doesn't 100% fit canon, I added in my own little tweaks.

Bad was stumped. He was losing hope.

He was sitting alongside Puffy, who was comforting him as much as she could. He wanted to cry, cry because he had failed, cry because of guilt, cry because he had lost his best friend.

But he couldn't. He couldn't cry. He didn't have the energy to do so, and even if he did, he had already wasted all of his tears the day before.

He couldn't count how many times he had told himself to "have faith", to "not lose hope", to "not give up". He should've known that he'd break his own promises.

Now, his expression was blank, almost as blank as Skeppy's, even if that thing was still him.

Puffy was worried for her friend, she had never seen him so miserable before. Only then she understood how much Skeppy meant to him. She had done everything she could to encourage Bad, but she ran out of ideas. All the "It's gonna be alright" and "I'm sure he'll come back"s didn't mean anything in the end, but she believed that if she said it more she could eventually build up Bad's courage.

"Hey, hey Bad?" Puffy asked. "Look at me."

Bad turned to face Puffy, his expression still blank. He stared at her with such emptiness that it hurt.

"I know that things aren't looking good, but we need to try harder if we want Skeppy to break free of the...infection. He's going to be alright, trust me."

Bad let out a long, heavy sigh. His expression wasn't blank anymore, but it was replaced with an expression of dread and misery.

"That's...not Skeppy, Puffy," Bad said with unease. "He's...he's gone...he's really gone."

Puffy could hear Bad start to cry and pulled him into a hug. She felt bad for him, she couldn't imagine the pain he was going through. All she could do as a friend was stay by his side, and she wished she could do more than that.

They both had no clue how to free Skeppy from the infection. They've asked almost everyone if they knew how, but to no avail, none of them knew either.

"Bad?" Puffy asked, trying to grab his attention.

"Y-yeah?"

"Can you at least try to talk to Skeppy again? Please?"

Puffy let go of him, waiting for an answer. Bad was staring at the floor as he considered it. He sighed, and turned to face her.

"Fine, I'll try again."

Puffy smiled as Bad prepared his gear and walked out the door, ready to face what was once his best friend.

He walked down the paths of L'manberg, looking around for his best friend.

"Skeppy!" Bad called out. "Where are you?"

 _He couldn't be there...can he?_ Bad quickened his pace towards the one place that Skeppy was bound to be at: where the egg was being kept. Those that got infected by the egg would certainly return to the source at some point, right?

He carefully made his way through the dark cave, avoiding a couple of small stalagmites and stalactites. He eventually reached the entrance of where the egg was being kept, and he could practically feel the weird and disturbing aura the egg gave off from where he stood.

He peeked his head from the entrance and scanned the room, and he spotted him, Skeppy, who was staring blankly at the large egg.

Bad hopped down and approached Skeppy with caution, avoiding the vines hanging from the ceiling and the ones that were snaking all over the floor.

"Skeppy..?" Bad asked, his voice as quiet as a whisper, but loud enough for Skeppy to hear. "Are you...are you feeling alright?"

"I always feel fine," Skeppy responded with a monotone voice. He was fully red; red vines snaked around his body, from his face, to his neck, to his arms, and even to his legs. He rested both of his hands in his now red hoodie's pockets, his gaze focused on the egg. 

Bad sighed and stepped in front of Skeppy, trying to grab his attention. With slight hesitation, he reached out his hand to grab Skeppy's hand out of his pocket, holding it tightly but also gently. Skeppy finally turned his focus away from the egg and looked down to see his Bad holding his hand. 

"Skeppy, if you're still in there, please, please come back to me," Bad started to tear up. "Please, I know you can break free." 

Skeppy stared at him with vacancy in his eyes; emptiness. Red Skeppy couldn't care less about what Bad was feeling, but Skeppy? The _original_ Skeppy? His blood boiled with rage and fear. 

Skeppy had been using up all his strength to break down the metaphorical cage that was preventing him from falling into Bad's arms for days now, and he hated it. The infection was way too strong for him. Skeppy was still there, he was just locked away by the egg's infection, resulting in Red Skeppy. He was practically paralyzed, the only thing active was his mind. He wanted to tell Bad that he was still there, trying his best to come back, thinking about how his friend was doing every single day. He wanted to tell him that he was safe. He'd always curse under his breath about how the infection was separating him and his best friend, and it'll always feel strange how he didn't hear a "LANGUAGE!" right after. 

He was slowly drowning, losing grip of his body. Sooner or later, the infection would have successfully taken over him, and he had no other way to go back. It physically hurt him how he could hear Bad's cries. It angered and upset him how he couldn't have been there by his side and comforted him, being his shoulder that he could lean into. 

"Skeppy...please. Don't you want to break free? To go on adventures with me? To hang out with our friends again? To pull your stupid trolls on people..?" Bad said, voice cracking. He was on the verge of a breakdown, but he had to stay strong, for Skeppy, for his best friend. 

_Of course I do..._

"I have no such desires," Red Skeppy said that caused Bad's heart to break. 

Skeppy wanted to curse his infected self for saying that. Of course he wanted to do all that, he missed those times. He wanted to hit his infected self for mentally hurting Bad, even if he didn't realize it. 

"O-okay..." Bad said, trying to come up with something else. He still had a bit of faith in him, so he wasn't giving up, not now. "Hey! Do you remember all the memes? All of your ridiculous memes?"

Red Skeppy stared at him. 

Bad fumbled with his hands a bit before speaking. "Remember...Japanese symbol for beginners? Remember that? Remember the fourteen meme? Remember?"

Bad desperately waited for an answer only to be disappointed by a simple "No." 

_Of course I remember..._

Bad had one more thing up his sleeve, and he hoped that it would be the very thing that could bring back his best friend. 

"R-remember when I said that 'Ride with U' reminded me of you?"

Red Skeppy blinked. 

_"There's nothing I wouldn't do, as long as I can ride with you, you. I'll do anything to take a ride with you, you. I just wanna ride with you.."_ Bad softly sang. 

"I've heard no such thing."

Bad was already on the verge of tears. It was all enough to prove him that his best friend was truly gone. With shaky hands, he rested them on Red Skeppy's shoulders, slightly shaking him with how much he was shuddering. He pulled him into a tight hug and cried onto his shoulder. He began singing a tune that broke Skeppy's heart. 

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. Skeppy, you'll never know dear, how much I love you,"_ Bad's voice was starting to break as he sang the last of the lyrics. _"Please don't take my sunshine away..."_

Bad had broken down crying, hugging Red Skeppy as he slowly slid down to the ground and onto his knees. 

Red Skeppy didn't even hug him back. He just stood there and looked down at Bad who was in such a vulnerable state. 

Skeppy couldn't do anything other than watch as his best friend let out all of his tears and was leaning on what once was him, an emotionless being who couldn't care less on how others felt. He reached out in hopes of pulling Bad into his arms, only to be pushed back. He hugged his knees tightly, as if it was Bad. But it just wasn't the same. 

He broke down and cried, hoping that all the pain could just disappear, and continued to drift endlessly into the depths of his mind as he strayed further from reality, slowly leaving everyone and everything he loved behind. 

Including his best friend. 

_I see you're falling slow_  
You think you're safe, but you're on a rope  
I'm scared cause I don't know  
If you'll be here, when I wake tomorrow  
I won't give up I know you'll come around  
I won't lose faith I know you'll come back home

_I see that you're slipping, and your mind is missing  
There's vacancy in your eyes  
You're tumbling through the sky  
I see that you're slipping and your mind is missing  
There's vacancy in your eyes  
You're tumbling through the sky_

**I know I'm sinking deep  
I say I'm fine, but I'm struggling to breathe  
I can't hold back my tears  
It seems like every night I cry myself to sleep  
I feel so lost could someone come save me  
I swam away and now I'm lost at sea**

_I see that you're slipping, and your mind is missing  
There's vacancy in your eyes  
You're tumbling through the sky  
I see that you're slipping and your mind is missing  
There's vacancy in your eyes  
You're tumbling through the sky_

_**Wherever you are  
And wherever you've been  
I don't care at all  
I just miss my friend** _

_**Wherever you are  
** And wherever you've been  
I don't care at all  
I just miss my friend..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italic for Bad.  
> Bold for Skeppy.   
> Italic + bold for Both. 
> 
> PHEWH idk if this was rushed but eh ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> School is starting tomorrow so I was determined to finish this tonight. I have another oneshot idea and SPOILER- it's another Soul-Seeking one because I fridgin love that AU and how well it was written. Until we meet again :)
> 
> Also, isn't it already obvious that I'm in HappyTWT and is a sucker for their friendship? If not, then now you know.


	7. Good ol' Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream visits an all too familiar place to get supplies with A6d and ended up in his sea of memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||2450 words||Hurt/Comfort-ish||  
> AU: Soul-Seeking by Faded-Red on Wattpad.  
> Ship(s): None.  
> Warning(s): Mentions of death.  
> Note: Yes, I am making another Soul-Seeking oneshot. Since George & Sapnap don't really exist in the AU, I decided to add them in for this ONE oneshot :) (No, I am not running out of ideas). Not all of the information in this oneshot are canon!

The group was travelling through the forest. It was winter; the trees were fully frosted, and what was once a dirt path was now covered in thick, soft snow. There was a thin layer of mist in the air, almost as if it was fog, adding onto the freezing temperature. It was fine for Mega, considering that he was a Winter fae. Zelk felt fine as well, but the others? Not so much. The other four were freezing. Their cloaks usually helped, but since they've been travelling in the freezing cold for so long, their cloaks weren't much help anymore. 

They still have a couple of days worth of travelling in order to arrive at their destination. They were running out of supplies and had to find some place to refill it, restoring their energy while they're at it. They've been roaming through the forest for a few hours, looking for a town, or at least a village. 

A6d has tried to use magic to keep him warm, but it only drained his energy after a certain amount of time, so he stopped. 

As if their prayers have been heard, they've finally come across a small town. They could tell that the population was low, but it was enough to operate a town. People were up and about; some were buying groceries while their kids ran around, goofing off. 

"Let's take a break there," Skeppy said, approaching the gates first, with Bad behind him. Mega and Zelk followed, then A6d, but Dream stayed back.

Only A6d seemed to notice and turned his attention towards Dream. The mage had wide eyes, either out of fear or shock, could be both. Maybe Dream was just freezing and A6d was just worried for nothing.

"Hey, you okay there?" A6d asked. Dream snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the young mage.

"Yeah, just...freezing," he said awkwardly. A6d nodded. He didn't fully believe that he was telling the truth, but he'll take it.

The group made their way through town, a few friendly people greeting them. Although, others stared at them, with slight fear and confusion. I mean, who could blame them? You don't get to see two people with such unique features with one of them having antlers everyday, did you?

"I think it's best if we find some place where we won't grab any unwanted attention," Zelk said, his voice almost a whisper. He rushed towards the direction of the forest, Mega not so far behind. 

"Me and Skeppy will go find some food for the journey, you two can go find a medkit or at least bandages for when one of us gets injured and Zelk isn't around." A6d and Dream nodded as Skeppy and Bad went off to the town's markets.

A6d and Dream began searching for a pharmacy. Dream was walking with unease, hoping that A6d didn't notice.

Unfortunately, he did.

He didn't question it, though. It wasn't his business, Dream was probably just having one of those off days.

After a few minutes of searching, they've finally found the pharmacy. It was a three-story building located near the edge of the forest, giving whoever was working there easy access to it. It had lots of potted plants surrounding the entrance, making it feel cozy. The building may appear to be slightly too big for a pharmacy, but A6d assumed that the owner had a family.

He walked up to the entrance and opened the door, a small bell ringing from above him. Dream appeared beside him, now with his hood up. A6d gave him a questioning look, but Dream's expression was enough to tell him to not question any further. 

There were only three people in the pharmacy, excluding them. They walked up to the reception and rang the counter bell. A few seconds later, a middle aged woman with dark, brunette hair and circular glasses took her place behind the counter. 

"Hello young men, what do you need?" she asked with a friendly tone. 

A6d smiled. "Do you have any bandages? Or maybe a med kit? We'll need it for our journey."

"Of course! Give me a minute." The woman walked opened the door behind her and went in to find the requested items. 

Dream still had his hood up, his gaze facing down. A6d tilted his head. Yes it was winter and Dream was probably cold, but the pharmacy had a few heaters and candles that were enough to warm people up. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" A6d finally asked. 

"Yes, I am. Let's just get the supplies we need and get out of here, we need to get back on track," Dream said, his eyes not even close to meeting A6d's. 

A6d was about to ask something else until the woman came back with a med kit filled with supplies. 

"There you go, a complete set," the woman smiled. 

A6d reached into his pocket to grab his coppers and paid the woman. The woman thanked him and stored them under the table, then she noticed Dream's face. She squinted her eyes before they lit up. 

"Hey, do I know you?" the woman asked Dream. 

Dream's gaze lowered. He didn't respond. A6d stared at the two with confusion. Have these two met before?

"Oh! Dream? Is that really you?" 

A6d looked at the woman, then Dream. "Dream? Do you know her?"

Dream only gave a light shrug, and looked up. 

"I knew it! I'd recognize that face anywhere, even if it has been a long time." The woman seemed so excited to meet Dream, and it was obvious that they haven't met in so long. They probably had a good connection, because the woman was joyful. 

"You know Dream?" A6d asked. 

"Yes! He was a good friend of my son." Was? "It's been so long Dream, how have you been?"

Dream's awkward expression changed into a happier one, but he was still hesitant to speak. "I've been good, just been...travelling," he said awkwardly. 

"I see you've made a new friend," the woman gestured to A6d. 

"Yes, this is A6d." A6d gave a small wave. 

"It's so great to see you again! I know it must've been hard for you ever since...that incident." The woman's tone saddened at that last part. Something must've happened in the past, something horrible. But what?

"I'm sorry but...what exactly happened?" A6d asked. 

"Nothing," Dream said before the woman even had the chance to answer. 

The woman frowned. "I had a feeling you didn't tell your friend." The woman shuffled under the counter and brought out a seemingly old, metal key. "Why don't you two visit his workplace, hm?" she handed Dream the key and smiled at him. Dream gave a small smile and sighed. It may do him some good. 

A6d was still confused out of his mind. The next thing he knew he was dragged up the stairs towards the third floor. Once they've reached the top, there was a small platform and a wooden door in front of them. Whoever the woman was talking about must have the whole third floor all to himself. 

Dream inserted the metal key into the keyhole and turned it. He put his body against the wooden door and pushed it, the door swinging open with a loud creak. A6d coughed as dust flew in the air and covered his mouth and nose. 

What was in the room amazed him; there were vitals on wooden shelves all around them. There was a single bed in the corner of the room. A wide, rectangular table sat in the middle of the room, littered with splotches of ink and who knows what. A single, medium sized window was at the end of the room that gave view to the forest, being the only source of light. There were a couple of unlit torches on the room's walls. Countless books were placed on a large bookshelf. Scrolls were hanging out of a large chest. There was a goggle on the floor. A6d spotted two glass cabinets filled with potions and herbs. A6d was amazed, whoever this person was must be a potion brewer, but it didn't seem like anyone was in the room for a long time before they came. 

"Woah, what is this?" A6d said in awe. 

"This is my friend's workplace. Well, it was," Dream said sadly and walked towards the middle of the room. 

"What do you mean 'it was'?" A6d asked curiously. "What happened to your friend?"

Dream frowned and walked towards the large chest, shuffling through the scrolls. A6d walked towards him and see that he was holding a picture of three people. The middle one had dirty blond hair with a silly white mask with a smiley face on it. The one on the right had slightly darker skin and black hair with a bandana. The one on the left had the same brunet hair as the woman from before with big, black goggles with a white rim. They were all smiling. A6d squinted at the male in the middle, and realized that he looked like Dream, but younger. 

"Is that you?" A6d asked, pointing at the picture. 

"Yes. The one on the right is Sapnap, and the one on the left is George," Dream answered. "George was a young potion brewer, and Sapnap was a young mage with the same situation like you."

"What do you mean 'same situation'?"

"I mean that he could only control fire, like you," Dream said. "But we never got the chance to figure out why."

A6d raised an eyebrow. 

Dream let out a heavy sigh. "We were a strong group, but unfortunately, they died."

A6d's eyes widened. No wonder Dream seemed uneasy and awkward when they entered the town in the first place, it was the home of his friends. A6d felt sympathy for Dream and put his hand on his shoulder. He didn't even realize that Dream shed a single tear. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" A6d asked. 

Dream wiped away the single tear and took a deep breath. "I was told that they died in this workplace by a brewing accident, but I don't fully believe it. George may be a bit clumsy, but he has never made a single mistake with brewing. He always did it carefully. Besides, he didn't brew any powerful potions, just simple ones like invisibility, healing, fog, et cetera. So there was no way that a mistake could kill them." 

Dream kept staring at the picture with a sad expression that hurt A6d. 

"You miss them, don't you?"

"Of course I do, they were my closest friends. I remember when we would play in the forest next to this town."

\-----

_Dream was running through the forest as fast as he could, leaves crunching below him. He was out of breath, he needed to rest. He went to a large tree and put his back against it, focusing on his breathing. He was wheezing a lot, out of laughter and out of breath. He thought he was safe until-_

_"BOO!" Dream jumped and looked behind him, but no one was there. A second later, a brunet male stood in front of him, appearing out of nowhere. Dream stared with wide eyes._

_"Hah! I found you! The potion worked!" the male exclaimed happily._

_"Oh George, you haven't caught me yet," Dream chuckled and took of running once again._

_George let out a frustrated sigh. "How is this guy so fast?!"_

_Dream ran once again. This time back where he had come from. He heard an echo that was vibrating through the trees, and he laughed._

_"OH DREAM~" he heard his friend, Sapnap, call out._

_He didn't know which direction he was coming from, so he kept running, ready to strike._

_Suddenly, Sapnap hopped down from a tree above him and lit a fire in front of Dream, far enough to give Dream time to stop and not burn himself._

_As planned, Dream came to an abrupt stop, inches away from the flame. He looked at Sapnap and stared at him with daggers in his eyes, but playfully._

_He quickly put out the flame with water and ran away from him._

_"Hey no fair! You used my very weakness against me!" Dream heard Sapnap yell from behind him, followed by chuckling._

_"Well, almost getting me and the whole forest burned isn't fair either," Dream said, chuckling._

_With the blink of an eye, fog surrounded him. 'Must be George's potions again' Dream thought. He kept running, keeping his guard up, ready for the two to attack._

_When he thought he was ready, George and Sapnap jumped down from above and tackled Dream, almost squashing him from the fall._

_Dream could barely see due to the fog and had trouble defending himself. Eventually, George and Sapnap successfully tackled Dream to the ground, preventing him from escaping._

_"Hah! We won the manhunt! Finally!" Sapnap exclaimed happily. Dream laughed as George got rid of the fog around them._

_"Okay, okay, you won, now get off me!" Dream pushed the other two off and stood up, brushing some dirt and leaves off of his clothes. "Tiring, huh?"_

_"Of course! You're so fast it's insane," George said tiredly. Sapnap and Dream laughed as they nudged George, making him fall to the ground._

_"Of for **** sake you two-" George laughed and began to chase the two, laughing._

_They spent the rest of the afternoon chasing each other and goofing off. It was fun, and Dream wished that it'll go on forever._

_But of course, it didn't._

\-----

"Manhunt, huh? That sounds tiring," A6d said. 

"But fun," Dream chuckled. "Wish I could do it again."

"Maybe we can do it after all of this ends," A6d said. 

Dream smiled, nodding. "Yeah, maybe." Dream put back the items into the chest and stood up, brushing off the dust off his hands. He looked at the glass cabinet filled with potions. "You can grab a few potions if you want, we might need it on our journey. They should be labeled."

"Really?" A6d said. Dream nodded. 

A6d opened the glass doors and scanned the potions. He took one labeled "Invisibility", one labeled "Fog", and one labeled "Healing". He put them in his bag, keeping them safe. 

"C'mon, I was serious when I said that we need to get back on track," Dream said, waiting near the door. 

Dream locked the door and led both of them back down the stairs. He returned the key to the woman, or in this case George's mother, and took the med kit, both of them giving their goodbyes and walked out the door. 

"Let's see if Skeppy and Bad are arguing like an old married couple again," A6d laughed. 

"I'll be surprised if they didn't," Dream said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is definitely a longer chapter compared to my other oneshots. Is this even considered a Dream Team oneshot? I don't know. If not, then I really need to write a Dream Team oneshot at some point lol. I managed to finish this even with school so yaaay. 
> 
> Yes, this is another Soul-Seeking oneshot because I love that AU and it is so well written oh my GOSH Faded how do you do it?
> 
> And don't worry, I think I have another oneshot idea in mind ;)
> 
> Oh, and L'manberg blew up again, pog /hj


	8. Dear Past Self

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Technoblade encounters a disturbance in his mind during training and almost harms someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||3481 words||idk||  
> AU: (Minecraft) Kingdom AU.  
> Ship(s): None.  
> Warning(s): Blood.  
> Note: Simple kingdom au stuff; Phil is king, Techno, Tommy, and Wil are young princes. Techno and Wilbur are twins and are in their early teens (14), Tech being a few minutes older than Wil. Tommy is their younger brother, who is 9. Yes, magic exists. Yes, I am struggling to make an original storyline and AU.

"Make sure your stance is firm, don't let your opponent knock you down."

Phil was training Techno on the castle's training grounds. He had always personally trained his sons to prepare them for anything. After all, a king has to be the best at sword-fighting to survive from possible assassinations, right? Who knows what will happen if the heir to the throne died tragically before their coronation?

Phil trained Techno almost every single day, Sunday being their one day off. Even then, Techno often trained on his own whenever he had the time. Although Phil knew that he trained Techno well, he didn't expect him to nail the moves so quickly. He was convinced that Techno could single handedly take down half of a raid, only half; He still had a lot to learn. 

Techno, Wilbur, and Tommy often fought against each other during training. Well, Techno and Wilbur were the ones that took it seriously, it was too dangerous for a nine-year-old to take a sword fight seriously. Wilbur didn't have much interest in sword-fighting anyway, so Techno usually won. He still enjoyed helping his brother improve, though. 

Techno didn't just focus on the arts of the sword, he also trained in archery. Unsurprisingly, he was good at it. 

"When facing a larger opponent, attack their weaker spots, don't try to attack them from below. It'll be unlikely that they'll lose their balance by a single blade," Phil informed Techno. 

"What if they have armor?"

"Most armors leave the neck, face, lower arm, hands, and feet exposed, so try to aim for them. If they are wearing armor that completely covers them, they'll have a great disadvantage. Like moving much slower and being less agile. Use their disadvantages to your advantage."

Techno nodded and gripped onto his sword tightly as Phil summoned three guards to test Techno's knowledge. Techno smirked as the guards drew their swords. He hoped that these guards didn't underestimate him, unlike the last ones. 

He swung his sword bravely as one of the guards started attacking. Their swords clashed together, both staring at each other straight in the eye, fighting against the other's force on the sword. Another guard came running from his right. He grunted as he successfully pushed back the guards sword and began to attack the other guard. He was fighting both of them at once, meaning that there was still one guard left. Techno kept his guard up, prepared for the last guard to join in on the attack. Just as he had expected, the last guard tried attacking him from above. He moved himself away from the small circle, letting the three guards' swords collide, making a loud clashing sound. The guards stumbled back a bit, but were still standing strong. Yeesh, are these guards new or something?

"Letting the enemies attack each other...wonderful!" Phil commented from the sidelines. Techno gave him a small thumbs up and continued to fight the guards. 

Wilbur had made his way onto the training grounds to see how Techno and Phil was doing. He didn't have much to do; Tommy was over at Tubbo's place, Niki had a big bakery sale to prepare for, and Fundy had gone to the Northern mountains to visit his father. 

When he arrived, the sounds of swords clashing against each other made its way into his ear. He peeked from behind a pillar and watched as his brother bravely fought the guards. It still amazed him how good he was, he was still fourteen!

Wilbur saw Phil standing on the sidelines and took his place next to him. 

"Hey there, Will. What brings you here?" Phil asked. 

"I had nothing else to do so I thought I'd check out how Techno was doing with training," Wilbur shrugged. 

Phil nodded and looked back towards the fight. If he hadn't told Techno to not kill them, he was sure that techno could've stabbed one of them by now. 

"Alright! That's enough," he announced. 

The guards abruptly stopped and lowered their swords. They bowed to Phil and Wilbur, then Techno, and left. 

"Tech? Are you tired?" Phil asked. 

"Pft, if you think that could tire me out, then you are horribly mistaken," Techno chuckled. 

Phil smiled. "Good. Will? Do you wanna train with Techno?"

Wilbur looked at Phil, then Techno, then back to Phil. "Oh, sure."

"Go grab a sword."

Wilbur did as he was told and went to retrieve a sword. He had to admit, he wasn't anywhere near Techno's level, but he'd consider himself good at sword-fighting. At least good enough to fight off a few monsters to keep himself alive. 

He went back to the field after retrieving his sword. He took his place in front of Techno, far enough to give both of them a head start. He gripped his sword tightly as Phil whistled, signaling them to start. 

They always had a good fight, although Techno often took it easy when training with Wilbur. When Wilbur found out he was offended, but he secretly admitted that he was a bit grateful because if Techno used his full potential he'd definitely get destroyed. 

Unlike the previous one where Techno fought with the guards, they were laughing and occasionally goofing off, but still taking the fight seriously. 

Phil laughed as the two boys had fun fighting. He couldn't wait until Tommy was old enough to train with his brothers. He could imagine that it would be extremely chaotic. 

Techno loved the sound of swords clashing against each other. He loved fighting, and violence. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he loved training with Wilbur, and is eager to train with Tommy. 

He had already cornered Wilbur countless times, smirking after every one. Wilbur only stared at him before smiling and getting back into the fight once again. 

Wilbur had tried to attack Techno from below, trying to make him lose balance. But Techno dodged every single one. He delivered the attack back to Wilbur by swinging his sword to his feet and making him lose balance. Wilbur fell onto the grassy floor, which softened his fall and prevented him from getting injured. He dropped his sword that was now out of reach for him. 

"Good one Technoblade! You've really improved," Wilbur said chuckling. Although, his chuckle died down as he looked at Techno, who's expression was blank and stared at Wilbur. "...Techno?"

Techno was dead silence. He didn't move and didn't even blink. Wilbur wasn't even sure if he was breathing. 

Phil stared at them with worry in his eyes. He didn't interfere, because he didn't know if this was one of Techno's new tricks when fighting or not. He wanted to see how it goes. 

Techno has been in a trance ever since he started swinging his sword towards Wilbur's feet, knocking him over, and it appeared that he hasn't snapped out of the trance. He had the strange urge to physically injure Wilbur while he was attacking from below. 

He didn't remember when he started to run towards Wilbur, sword high in the air. All he could hear were voices that echoed throughout hid mind. 

_'Blood, blood, blood'_ they said. 

Once he had gotten close enough to Wilbur, he raised his sword high in the air, and swung it towards Wilbur's face. 

_'Blood for the Blood God.'_

Just as he heard Wilbur's scream, he was stopped by another sword, pushing against his. Phil was holding back Techno's sword, hiding a shocked Wilbur behind his massive wings. Phil pushed Techno's sword to the ground and grabbed hold of Techno's shoulder's, looking at him straight in the eye. 

"Techno? Can you hear me?" Phil asked worriedly, shaking the teen. "Techno!"

With the blink of an eye, Techno snapped out of his blood lust trance, or whatever it was. He shook his head and gently held his forehead, leaning into his hand. He felt like he had a migraine. He slowly opened his eyes after adjusting the pain only to see Phil in front of him with wide eyes. He spotted his sword on the ground and Wilbur hiding behind Phil with the same shocked expression.

He didn't remember anything; all he remembered was dodging Wilbur's attempts to make him lose balance and suddenly he was standing in front of his father and brother who looked like they just saw a ghost. 

"What happened?" Techno asked, though it sounded more like a demand. 

Phil looked at Wilbur, then back to Techno. "You...don't remember?"

"No. All I remember was Wilbur attempting to attack me and now I'm standing in front of you two like you've seen a ghost or something," Techno answered with confusion. 

Phil sighed. "You...tried to hurt Will."

"What?"

"You sort of just, went on full attack mode. Good thing I stopped you before it was too late."

Techno's eyes widened. How could he not remember such an event? Especially the one that he caused? 

Phil moved his wing to reveal a slightly shaken Wilbur, but otherwise, he was fine. 

Techno paused for a few seconds before sighing. "Uh, Wilbur, sorry about that," he said awkwardly. 

Wilbur smiled. "It- it's alright, I'm just glad that you're okay now." He stood up and brushed some dirt off of him. 

Phil eyed both of his sons with concern, more specifically Techno. He may recognize the strange behavior, so he needed to investigate further. Although deep down, he wished that it wasn't what he thought it was. 

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Just as Phil had feared, it happened again. Fortunately, no one he knew got hurt, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't worry. 

One night, Phil had difficulty sleeping. It was exactly two in the morning, so he decided to get out of bed and check on Techno, to help him sleep. 

The halls were empty, excluding the two guards who guarded Phil's bedroom door. Phil asked them to not question anything, and of course they agreed. The rest of the guards were outside on their night shift, letting Phil roam the halls freely. 

He figured that he should check up on Tommy and Wilbur as well. He peeked into Tommy's room, smiling once he saw that the child was fast asleep. Wilbur was laying in bed, fast asleep as well. He had a guitar on his bed. He most likely fell asleep while playing music. Finally, he checked up on Techno. He slowly opened the door, careful not to creak it and accidently disturb Techno. But there was nothing to disturb, because Techno was absent. Phil panicked as he fully opened the door and searched Techno's room. It was quite a mess. Blankets were messily scattered across the bed and on the floor, along with a few pillows. The place where Techno usually hung his sword was empty, making Phil worry even more. Techno's crimson red cloak was gone as well.

A sudden cold, sharp breeze entered the room, causing Phil to shiver. The wind was strong enough to open the glass, balcony doors. It confused Phil because they were supposed to be locked. Then it dawned on him: Techno had escaped.

Phil rushed out onto the balcony, overlooking the forest, desperately trying to spot Techno. He stopped himself from yelling out Techno's name, fearing he'll wake the whole kingdom. Without any second thoughts, he spread out his large, black wings and set off into the night sky. 

He flew above the forest, squinting to find any sign of bright pink hair. The trees only got thicker and thicker the farther he flew. Eventually, the trees got so thick that you could barely see the forest floor anymore. Phil let out a frustrated sigh and descended onto the grassy floor. A disturbing smell made its way into his nose, making him cover it. It smelled like a dead animal body that was just starting to rotten, and unfortunately, it was just as he had guessed. The corpse of a poor deer was hiding behind a large oak tree, a dry trail of blood leading deeper into the forest. Phil hesitantly followed the bloody trail. He couldn't believe he was foolish enough to come unprepared. Some king he was. 

The smell of fresh blood grew as he kept following the burgundy colored trail. The farther he walked, the messier the trail appeared to be. He could've sworn he heard heavy breathing, but was convinced that it was just the wind. But the breathing got louder and louder and it was putting Phil on edge. He spotted a spec of bright pink in the corner of his eye and ran towards it. Then he saw him, Techno, sitting on the floor with his back against the tree, knees up to his chest. His long, pink hair was a mess and he was covered in blood, but it didn't appear to be his own. A bloody diamond sword was next to him, still carrying the horrid smell. 

"Techno..?" Phil asked with a gentle voice, careful not to trigger the...beast. 

Techno's head shot up and he looked at Phil with fear and anger in his eyes, but it grew slightly softer after realizing that it was Phil. 

"Phil?" Techno finally spoke. "You shouldn't be here."

"Yeah, well-"

"Phil, you could've gotten yourself _killed_ ," Techno said. "These voices are unbearable."

Phil's expression fell into sadness. He had hoped that Techno wouldn't go through the same thing he did, but it was clear that his wishes were never heard. 

Phil crouched down and set the diamond sword to the side, facing Techno. "Don't worry, I'll do my best to help you."

"You've gone through this before, haven't you?" Techno realized. Phil's eyes widened and he nodded, somewhat ashamed. 

Phil brought Techno back to the castle through Techno's open balcony window to not grab any unwanted attention from the guards. He helped Techno clean up and sleep, staying by his side to make sure nothing else happens. Techno had always got Phil's back ever since he was a child, and now Phil has to return the favor. 

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Weeks had gone by and the voices still stayed, but at least it hadn't got worst. Techno started distancing himself from everyone, including Phil. Phil insisted that it was okay for him to interact with others as long as he is near, but Techno grew paranoid. During meals, he would sit the farthest from everyone and mind his own business, still able to communicate with the others to not create suspicion. He claimed to want some 'personal space', which earned a confused look from Wilbur and Tommy, but they concluded that it made sense for Techno. 

Techno started to train alone with no guards and just a bunch of dummies, afraid that the incident would repeat itself. Wilbur asked if he could train with him one day, but Techno refused and said, "I think I'm a little to advanced for you, Wil." Which earned a laugh from Wilbur, but it was a fact that Techno may accidently hurt Wilbur again. 

During meetings with other royal families, Techno would usually stay in his room, but if he is asked to greet himself he will do a quick one and stay as far away as possible or hide somewhere else. Tommy once found him hiding in the library either reading a history book or a mythological one. Of course Techno shooed Tommy out of the library. 

During a big event with one or two royal families, the voices hit Techno hard. He managed to repress it for a solid two hours without anyone, including Phil, noticing. Everyone had to be present, so Phil kept Techno by his side. Techno surprisingly agreed, he wasn't going to let the annoying voices prevent him from keeping Phil safe, but he won't let them hurt him either. 

Wilbur was playing a song of his own on the guitar in front of a lot of people, which was good because it meant that Techno didn't need to interact with anyone. The young princes, Tommy and Tubbo were running around the castle. Phil reassured Tubbo's parents that it was fine since there were guards to supervise them. 

Techno felt uneasy and often flinched, but it was unnoticeable. He kept scratching the side of his arm to distract himself, his arm also feeling a bit itchy for some reason. Luckily, his sleeve was preventing his scratches from damaging his skin. Phil tilted his head towards the fifteen-year-old with concern. He grabbed Techno's arm and stopped him from scratching. 

"Are you okay, mate?" Phil asked with concern tied in his voice. 

"Oh? Uh- yeah, I think a mosquito bit me," Techno lied. 

"Uh huh," Phil said, unconvinced. 

The voices started to grow ever since the conversation begun. Techno began to fidget with his fingers behind his back as the voices kept on repeating the same thing. _'Blood, blood, blood, blood'_ was all they said. 

Techno panicked and turned to Phil, but he didn't plan on telling him. "I think I forgot something upstairs, I'll be right back, Phil."

Before Phil could say a word, Techno rushed off to the stairs and into his room. Phil wanted to follow him, but the voices may be grabbing ahold of Techno and if he was there, he may risk triggering the voices even more. So, he waited for a few minutes before checking up on Techno, not just for his safety, but for Techno's as well. 

Techno breathed heavily as he stared at himself in the mirror. He brought his hair that was in front of his face behind his ear and could've sworn that his eyes turn from dark blue to a purple-ish red, as if it was in the process of turning to the color red. 

The more he stared in the mirror, the messier he appeared to be. He was convinced that he was going crazy. It has almost been a year now, and it only seemed to have gotten worse. 

"What the heck is wrong with me?" He breathed out, but it was as if the words came out of his mouth unconsciously. 

A small weight fell onto his shoulder that shuddered him. He turned around, but no one was there. The second he turned back, there wasn't just one reflection anymore, but two. He looked back once again, but still, no one there. The second reflection remained. 

The second reflection had longer hair than him that was in a neat braid, unlike his now loose, messy one. The reflection had the same bright pink hair and pig like features with the same eye color as him. It looked like an older version of him, but instead of his signature red cape and golden crown, his older reflection wore a soft blue one a winter boots and a smaller golden crown. 

"What..?" Techno muttered out. His older reflection only smiled, revealing two sharp teeth. He leaned over Techno while putting both of his hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at the mirror. 

"Never thought I'd see younger me again," his older reflection said with a deeper and monotone voice. "Especially in this state."

"You're not real," Techno finally broke out of his confused and shocked daze. 

"Hm?"

"You can't be real," Techno chuckled with unease. "There's absolutely no way. I'm hallucinating."

"You don't need to believe that I'm real, I just need you to know that I'm here," his older reflection said which sent more shivers down his spine. "Still can't believe how vulnerable I was."

Techno was shaking, this could just be the voices playing with his imagination. His older reflection circled around him, scanning him from top to bottom and noticed how shaken Techno was. 

"Don't worry, the voices are good," he said. "You are going to be known by the whole country, kid."

"What do you mean?" Techno asked, now worried. His older self could have either meant it in a bad way or a good way. He could've just meant that _when_ he becomes king. 

"You'll see," he said. "You and I are the Blood God."

Techno looked up in confusion. "Blood God?"

His older reflection nodded. "Blood for the Blood God."

The voices began to ring the line inside his head. It started to become a nuisance. 

"What do you mean? What happens in the future? Are Phil, Wilbur and Tommy okay?"

His older reflection raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Don't worry, Phil's alright."

"What about _Wilbur and Tommy_?" Techno demanded. 

"Like I said, you'll see," his older reflection said and grabbed Techno's shoulders once more to face the mirror. It was as if some invisible force was moving him. "You're me, a Blood God, a warrior."

_'Blood for the Blood God. Blood for the Blood God.'_

Their eyes changed their color to a dark crimson red. Techno fell into a state of shock as his older reflection laughed. 

_"Technoblade never dies,"_ Techno, his older reflection and the voices said in unison before the door swung open, revealing big, black wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest oneshot so far, pog. 
> 
> This took way longer than it should've but what can I say? A girl gotta focus on school :/
> 
> Yea had multiple writer's block writing this...but at least I finally finished it. Idk if there will be a part 2 but we'll see :/
> 
> Sorry this took so long, i have a lot of assignments and extra classes to attend to and i dont want to burn myself out. 
> 
> I have another idea for a oneshot but it's dnf haha,,,oh gosh. I'm debating on whether to write it or not in fear of getting "attacked" or whatever, but i'll do it ig, cuz i'm afraid to do any other ships jhgkjerhgekhgi
> 
> It's not gonna be too "romance-y" tho. Think of it as the start of the romance thing.


	9. Strange Masquerade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelk and his friends go to a masquerade party with Zelk ending up getting lost, but he soon found a very mysterious man...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1681 words||???||  
> AU: Masquerade AU. Sorta set in a medieval time with magic and crap, to make it interesting.  
> Ship(s): None.  
> Warning(s): None.  
> Note: A bunch of boys at a masquerade cuz why not? Oh, and don't mind me spending a whole fudging paragraph describing basic outfits.

Ah, masquerade balls. An exquisite event where everyone formally dresses up with beautiful suits and dresses, along with elegant and/or strange but majestic masks, creating a mysterious vibe in the room where everyone's face is concealed, their voice and actions being the main thing separating them all.

Masquerade balls weren't exactly Zelk's forte, but his friends convinced him to tag along. Plus, it'll be a wonderful and new experience, so, why not?

The group of boys were fancied and tailored to attend the great ball. Skeppy was wearing a simple, light blue suit that slightly shimmered in the light with black pants and a shiny, cyan and white mask that had a silver rim. Bad wore a dark crimson red suit with black pants and a beautiful, red rose in his chest pocket. His mask was a beautiful, sparkly red mask with two large, black feathers to the corner of it. Spifey wore a simple but fashionable, light brown suit with a ting of gold in its seams. He had a black mask with two, tinier black feathers. Finn wore a long, blue, pants skirt with a long-sleeved white top and wore short, black heels. He had long hair extensions, creating the illusion that he was a lady. He wore a blue, glittery mask with a single, large white feather. Vurb wore a greyish blue suit with a large, grey scarf and had a shiny grey mask. Finally, Zelk wore a gold or yellow suit with black pants and wore a golden mask with a big, white feather. The gang was all suited up.

The ball was held at an enormous, grand building. It had white, marble floors and pillars with soft, cream walls and golden light shining from a large, crystal chandelier on the inside. Everything looked so valuable that the group didn't want to touch anything in fear of breaking it. Even the dining hall was so grand that it appeared to be fit for a king.

The group walked through the large, black gates in between other guests that attended the ball. Various colors clashed together in the sea of guests. The group and the rest of the crowd made their way to the ballroom where even more guests were. Some were laughing, some were eating, and others were practicing their dance. The group separated. Skeppy and Bad went to talk to a group of people that Zelk didn't knew personally but have met once, Finn and Vurb went to do their own thing, and Spifey went off to talk to another group of people. Spifey offered Zelk to join him but Zelk told him that he wanted to try and explore the place himself.

The other parts of the building were just as grand as the ballroom. There were countless balconies that overlooked the beautiful, thick forest that was separating them from the great, blue ocean that shimmered in the moonlight. The halls were emptier with only a couple of people wandering around it. Zelk supposed that he should've stayed where the party was mainly being held since it was his first time, but a little exploring couldn't hurt.

Soon enough, only his footsteps could be heard in the hallway, its sounds bouncing off the floor creating an echo. Zelk made sure to take not of where he had been so he could easily get back. But there were so many halls and so many similarities between them, and it resulted in Zelk eventually getting lost. He'll admit that it wasn't the smartest idea.

"Oh, c'mon..." Zelk said under his breath and started wandering through the halls, hoping to find an exit. Unfortunately, the building was so big that it felt like it was a maze. Zelk made a mental note to tell the host to put up signs to prevent people from getting lost once he found his way out.

No one else's footsteps could be heard and it creeped Zelk out, knowing that no one was near to help him, or at least accompany him to find his way out. He tried listening to the faint music to find his way back, paying attention to the volume. If it increased, then it meant that he was getting closer. But the music never increased or decreased, it stayed in the same faint sound as it was before. Zelk huffed, frustrated.

"Hello? Anyone here that could help me out? Anyone?" Zelk started calling out to the empty hallway, hoping that someone could hear him. He kept walking, and could've sworn that his footsteps' sound doubled. He stopped walking, and noticed that the sound of footsteps echoing through the halls continued. _Someone was nearby._

"Yeah! You there! Whoever you are! Could you please help me get out of here?" No response, but the sound of footsteps continued. Did this person really not hear me? Zelk thought, confused and was beginning to think that the person was playing tricks on him.

"If this is a joke, it's not! I'm really lost and I would appreciate it if you'd help me," Zelk said once more, growing more impatient by the second. _They really think that this is a joke, huh?_

Zelk had enough and ran towards the sound of the footsteps. He had long took off his mask to get a better look at his surrounding and put it to the side of his head. The mysterious footsteps grew near as Zelk kept running. He took a turn into another empty hallway that had small candles lighting up the area. And there he saw it: a figure, around his height, standing at the end the hallway that had another archway leading to somewhere else. He wore a simple black suit with a green scarf covering the bottom half of his face. He had dark brown hair and wore a simple but beautiful, dark blue mask with big silver feathers. He stood tall and elegant, as if he was unbothered by the situation.

"I've been calling for help, y'know! It would've been nice if you could've just, I don't know, _see what was wrong?_ " Zelk said with annoyance. The mysterious man stood still and didn't say a single word, which annoyed Zelk even more. Before he could complain, the man took off running again, and Zelk chased after him.

"Hey- wait!" Zelk tried to grab the man's attention, but he didn't stop. Zelk followed him through hallways, arches, rooms and more. Eventually, Zelk lost the man and ended up in the same hallway he was in from the start, or at least he thought he was, the halls looked way too similar.

He slowly walked through the hallway, scanning every corner of it, searching for the mysterious man. Then, something blue twinkled in the corner of his eye. The man was on the balcony, sitting on the large and flat railing. The man noticed Zelk and patted the railing, seeming to want Zelk to sit with him. Zelk entered the balcony area with caution and sat on the railing across the man.

They both sat in silence, the man seeming to be calm while Zelk's mind was running like crazy. _Who is this man? Is he dangerous? Why isn't he saying anything? Why didn't he help me? Is he a guest?_

Zelk shook his head before looking back at the man who was staring at the ocean beyond them.

"Uhm, yeah, pardon?" Zelk said, grabbing the man's attention. "Yeah, can you please tell me who the heck are you?"

The man looked away for a split second before looking back at Zelk. He still didn't say anything. "You...can talk, right?" The man shrugged. "Okay, can at least take off your mask?"

The man paused before doing as he was told. He took off his mask, revealing a pair of dark brown eyes and a faint, burnt spot on the left side of his face. Zelk said nothing and continued interrogating him.

"I'll ask you again, who are you?"

The man paused once more. _"An old friend."_

Zelk shook his head. He could've sworn he heard the man spoke, but he guessed that his mind was playing with him.

The man stood up and walked back to the hallway, Zelk following him.

"Are you leading me back to the ballroom?"

The man looked back at him and nodded, putting his mask back on. Zelk put his mask back on as well and happily followed the mysterious man back to the ballroom. He didn't know why he trusted him, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to hurt him, at least.

The sounds of music and people conversing increased as they got closer to the ballroom. Zelk smiled, relieved that he finally made it back. Zelk turned to the man and smiled. "Thank you." He said, and grabbed his arm, forcing him to join the party.

His friends, Spifey, Skeppy, Bad, Finn, and Vurb noticed Zelk running in and aggressively waved as they run to his side.

"Zelk! Where the heck have you been?!" Skeppy asked, worried.

"Yeah, we've been looking everywhere for you," Bad chimed in.

Zelk chuckled. "Relax, I only got a bit lost that's all. But he helped me."

The group looked at each other with confused expressions.

"Who?" Vurb asked.

Zelk tilted his head. "Oh! He's-" He stopped his sentence upon realizing that the man that was once beside him has disappeared. He quickly looked around the room, confused as to where the mysterious man had gone.

"I...I think you may have been hallucinating, Zelk," Bad said. Zelk sighed. Maybe he was hallucinating, but it felt...real.

Zelk shook it off before scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess I was." He shrugged. The others guided him towards the food table, but Zelk kept looking back to where he had entered. Was it all fake? Was it all really just his imagination? Zelk huffed in defeat and accepted it. It made sense why everything about that man was strange, he wasn't real. But, then what does he mean by...

_"An old friend."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I really had no clue what I was doing while writing this. I speedran this so hard in fear of losing the idea and motivation. I know I said I would write dnf-ish, but take this for now.
> 
> Will I write more parts of this to further explain the ✨mysterious man✨? Probably, so I'll hold onto the dnf for now.


	10. "An Old Friend"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mega is in desperate need to glue everything back together again, and a trip to a familiar place might just be the solution.   
> But when has anything ever went to plan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||5204 words||Part 2 of Strange Masquerade||Angst||  
> AU: Masquerade/Medieval AU.  
> Ship(s): ZelkPVP (platonic).  
> Warning(s): Derealization/Illusions/Hallucinations, death, fire.  
> Note: Been in the mood to write about an elk and a mute so. Also, this is probably gonna make 0 sense, but i'll pretend like it's purposefully for the mystery.

_"An old friend."_

Mega mentally face-palmed. Why the heck did he say that? He should've stayed quiet, now Zelk was bound to be left confused, especially after his little disappearing act.

He huffed as his legs hung over the edge of the roof of the large building, his gaze focused on the twinkling night sky above him. He held his green scarf tightly around his face as if he will be exposed to the world if it slips off. He was conflicted.

"Hey, watch it, Vurb!" Mega heard a commotion from the ground. He peeked his head farther over the edge to see that the guests had begun to fled the building, meaning that the party was over. He smiled and put his mask back on, jumping down and joining the crowd. He made it through the crowd with ease and followed the group of friends without any of them realizing.

Bit by bit, the guests started to leave, and so did the group of friends. The group, and Mega, walked back to their town and each of them went their separate ways. Mega was left alone in the middle of town that was lit up with soft street lights and candles, the citizens giving no attention to him, as if he was as transparent as a pristine piece of glass.

He roamed around town, his mask now to the side of his head. Many of the people were still out and about, despite it being late at night. Adults were having small talk as their children played with each other, goofing around as one knocked the other down. Mega smiled and mentally laughed, it has been way too long since the last time he had that much fun. After being reminded of the memory, he frowned and continued walking, paying no more attention to the children.

Some houses still had warm light coming from inside, the people living in them still wide awake. One particular house caught Mega's attention. It had soft fairy lights in the front porch as people bustled around inside. There were many plants and a sign saying "Welcome!" in calligraphy. It seemed very welcoming and felt nostalgic to Mega. There was a large window to the side of it and Mega peeked through the thin curtains, trying to find a gap. There were two people baking on the other side of the window. Who would be baking at a time like this?

Mega got more curious and desperately tried to find a gap. When he found one, he could clearly see the silhouettes he once saw through the curtains. The woman had light brown hair that was tied into a ponytail and had round glasses, the other was slightly taller than the woman and had the similar shade of brown hair as the woman, only his was slightly lighter. The man had golden eyes and was wearing a golden mask to the side of his head. Mega's eyes widened as he put his ear against the wall, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Zelk, why don't you take your mask off?" "I like it, okay!" Mega could hear faint voices from the other side of the wall. _So, Zelk lives here?_ He thought, making a satisfied smile. Mega took one more look before leaving, finding some place for him to rest, not like it mattered where he rested since he didn't need much comfort and the people wouldn't notice him regardless.

\-----

"Zelk! Could you please go to the store and buy the items on this list?"

"But mom-"

"Zelk."

"Okay, okay, I'll do it."

Zelk huffed lightly as he closed the front door, holding out the list of items he had to purchase. Well, his mother was busy, so he shouldn't be too mad.

The store was just as crowded as usual, it was always crowded during mornings. He had wished that his mother would've asked him to purchase the items at a later time so the store wouldn't be so packed.

As requested, he bought all the items before they were out of stock. Just a few fruits and vegetables, as always. He walked out the store and began reviewing the list to see if he had missed anything.

"Salad, tomatoes, grapes...- AH!" Zelk was startled when he suddenly bumped into someone and immediately felt his face flush red out of embarrassment. He looked down not even daring to face the person and gathered his groceries.

"I am very sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was-" Zelk stopped his sentence and gasped when he saw the man before him. He was wearing a familiar green mask and had the same faint burnt spot on his face, but instead of a suit, he was now wearing a blue striped long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black jeans. He had his hands behind his back and stood tall as he looked down at Zelk.

"Hey! You're that man from the ball!" Zelk exclaimed, quite happily and relieved. "I knew that you couldn't have been a hallucination!"

Mega raised his eyebrow. So his friends think that he's a hallucination? Well, he couldn't blame them. Mega bent down and helped Zelk gather his groceries with Zelk continuously insisting that he could do it on his own. Mega had the urge to say that just because he could do it on his own doesn't mean that he had to, but decided against that.

"So, why are you here? Do you live here?" Zelk asked as they began roaming around town. Who knows, it could be his only chance to ask the mysterious man about last night.

Mega stayed silent and raised an eyebrow. Zelk tilted his head, confused, before realizing what he meant.

"Oh! Right, can't talk. Hold on." Zelk reached into his bag of groceries, brought out his list and a pen and gave them to Mega. "Write on the back of it."

Mega nodded and scribbled away with the pencil. Once he was finished, he handed the list to Zelk. Since the list wasn't too wide, Mega was forced to write smaller than usual, so Zelk had to squint in order to understand what was written down.

[I don't live here, just staying for a while.]

Zelk handed the list back, ready to ask another question. "What's your name?"

Zelk stared in confusion as Mega stood there, frozen. He didn't seem frightened, just...hesitant. Zelk sighed and brought his hand towards Mega.

"Sorry, that may be too perso-" Before Zelk could grab the list, Mega quickly wrote on it then handed it to Zelk.

[It's Mega.]

"Mega, huh?" Zelk chuckled lightly. "That's an odd name."

Zelk laughed as Mega punched the side of his arm and snatched the list from Zelk's hands. Zelk watched as Mega quickly scribbled down his response, careful not to break the piece of paper.

[Says the guy who has 'Zelk' as a name.]

Mega's statement made Zelk laugh harder to the point where it seemed like he was wheezing out his lungs. But it didn't last forever. Mega saw as Zelk's laugh died down into him creating a confused expression with his eyebrows furrowed. He slowly looked at Mega, as if he was trying to remember something, or perhaps find something.

"How do you know my name?"

Crap.

Mega was panicking. He may seem unbothered on the outside, but his mind was running in circles. He screwed up, he really screwed up. He knew that he shouldn't be too comfortable talking to Zelk or else he might slip up. But it had been so long...

Mega snapped out of his train of thought and snatched the list from Zelk, quickly writing on it. He handed the paper back to him and watched nervously as he read it.

[Heard your friends call out your name when you entered.]

"Ah, that makes sense," Zelk said, which earned a very relieved sigh from Mega. "But where did you go? My friends thought I was hallucinating!"

Mega huffed before grabbing the list from Zelk again. He really needed to get some kind of book and quill.

[Something urgent came up so I had to leave.]

Zelk nodded, but he was still slightly unconvinced. Mega was by his side when he entered the main area, so his friends must have seen him, but they didn't. His suspicion for the mysterious mute only grew the more he conversed with him. He thought that conversing with the mute would lead him to answers, but it only gave him more questions.

Zelk was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that Mega had taken the list out of Zelk's hand again and handing it to him with new writing.

[Aren't you supposed to be getting those groceries back home?]

"Eh, my mom won't mind if I stay out for a bit longer. I'll just say that the store was really crowded. Besides, I wanna keep talking to you."

Mega smiled, he hasn't heard anyone saying that they wanted to keep talking with him in a very long time, especially because he was usually quiet. He would be lying if he said that it didn't warm his heart in the slightest.

They kept walking around town talking about random things. Well, Zelk did the talking since Mega couldn't be bothered to write every time Zelk asks him something. Zelk talked about anything, like the town's history, his everyday life and some shower thoughts. Mega only nodded, seeming to be entertained, which relieved Zelk. He asked Mega yes-no questions here and there, so he wouldn't feel left out.

They spent the rest of the morning enjoying each other's company. They occasionally earned strange looks from the townsfolk, which left Mega uneasy and Zelk confused. Zelk told Mega to not focus on it and just enjoy the day. Mega appreciated the advice.

Mega accompanied Zelk on his walk home. They both wanted to spend more time together, but it was nearly noon and Zelk would have to risk getting scolded by his mom if they stayed out much longer. Zelk walked onto the front porch and waved Mega goodbye.

"Until we meet again, Mega." Mega smiled and watched as Zelk entered his home. Spending the day with Zelk has been relaxing and Mega felt like a ton of weight was lifted off of his shoulder. Maybe he didn't have to fear meeting with Zelk anymore, maybe he could spend time with him again.

Maybe.

\-----

Zelk entered his home and brought the groceries to the kitchen, washing the fruits and vegetables before storing them into their respectful places.

His mother walked in and tapped Zelk shoulder's. Zelk greeted her with a smile, but she didn't return it, which made Zelk anxious.

"Yeah, I know you're upset with me but the store was crowded and I met-"

"Who were you talking to, Zelk?"

Zelk froze. He didn't expect his mother to interrupt him mid-sentence, and he definitely didn't expect her to ask him that question. Did she see him talking to Mega?

"What?" Zelk asked. He wanted to make sure that she was talking about Mega, or else he would end up in an awkward situation.

His mother took a deep breath. "Two people visited me and said that they saw you talking to...no one."

As if time had abruptly stopped, Zelk froze once more. _Is she saying that I'm hallucinating?_ Zelk found himself standing in the same situation as last night. He thought his friends were the only ones that somehow missed Mega, but his mother, and apparently other people who came to his mother to report about it, didn't notice him either. _I swear to gosh, why the heck do they act like Mega's invisible?_

"Look, mom, I don't know what the others told you but whatever they said, they are lying. I was talking with someone! A real person! And his name is _Mega,_ he very much _exists._ " Zelk didn't realize that he had snapped at his mother, and when he did, he immediately regretted it. He was too scared to say anything and only waited for a response.

His mother sighed, seeming to be concerned for her son. She held out her hand and rested it on Zelk's shoulder, making direct eye contact but still coming out as gentle.

"Zelk, I saw it with my own eyes. I saw it through the window. You were...laughing and talking with...no one. There was no one there, you were talking to yourself. Many people saw it."

Zelk stared at the ground. Has he gone crazy? At first he thought that it must have been a misunderstanding, but after what his mother had just said, he started doubting himself. Has Mega been his imaginary friend this whole time? He blushed slightly after realizing why the townsfolk were staring at them - at _him._ He was making a fool of himself all morning. He couldn't help but notice how everything felt so real, then again, the human mind can pull the most strange tricks on you, and it appears that Zelk has become a victim to it.

"I-I..." Zelk muttered under his breath, struggling to gather the right words.

His mother lifted up his head, making him look at her. "It's alright, Zelk. It's nothing that you should be embarrassed about." His mother frowned at the sight of her son. Zelk was obviously ashamed. "Would you...would you mind if I called a psychologist?"

Zelk's mother was expecting him to shot up in surprise, but instead he scratched the back of his head and nodded. "I...I think I need it," he said shamefully. "But please don't let my friends know about this." His mother smiled and nodded, embracing him in a hug. Zelk huffed in defeat, perhaps a psychologist would set him straight.

Mega stared at the scene with sadness in his eyes. He had caused this, he had caused the confusion. He put himself to blame, but the urge to meet Zelk again was too strong, he couldn't resist, and now Zelk had to get some help because of him.

He walked away from the upsetting scene, spending the rest of the afternoon alone, as usual. He stared longingly at the townsfolk who were laughing and talking, enjoying their day. He envied that. The rest of the day went by fast, and before he knew it, the blanket of night had fallen. The sparkling night sky was the only thing left that Mega found pretty, everything else around him were either bland or made him feel like there were a cluster of arrows shot into his heart. The happy townsfolk brought many happy memories, and that's what hurt most. He had spent way too long to "let go" as he was told to, but it wasn't that simple. One cannot just let go of something that they hold dearly, that would feel like betrayal, but many said that once you've let go, you'd feel a thousand times better. Mega believed that that was a lie, nothing but a bunch of bullcrap. But he hasn't felt much better when he didn't let go. Well, he did have fun, but it didn't last forever, it always ended up in him feeling like a fool, regretful. He left the town rather quickly, not wanting to mess anyone else's lives, specifically Zelk's. He just wished that he wasn't such a coward to talk.

He was now roaming around the forest, wandering in the darkness, not knowing which direction he was going in, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was that he had to get as far away as possible from town. Occasionally, deers would pass by, along with other critters as owls hooted into the night sky. Mega didn't think that his favorite scenery which was usually the solution to all of his discomfort would turn into a mild disturbance which caused him more discomfort.

Although there were many chirping noises, it all seemed incredibly silent to Mega, too silent to the point where his ears wouldn't stop ringing as if he was right next to a giant bell. He winced and covered his ears in pain, but he didn't scream, or rather couldn't scream. He fell onto his knees as he tried to block out the noise, to block out the ever so disturbing silence. Silence was his friend, it was what he believed he ever was. Silent. A mute. So why was he fighting it? Why would he try to stop it? Why the heck is it so annoying?

Then everything dropped dead silence. No ringing, no nothing. Mega suddenly felt light-headed and was desperately trying to comprehend what was happening. His vision was blurry and it hurt every time he tried to focus it. But there wasn't even anything to focus on, it was as if he was floating mindlessly in the void.

Color started to form in his blurry vision. Mega rubbed his eyes as his vision started to focus. He was no longer standing in the forest, he was now surrounded by picturesque buildings with a more open area than the cramped forest he was in a few seconds ago. Everything seemed to warp around, not completely in its final form yet. Mega watched his surrounding twist and bend around, processing the world around him.

Then it stopped, finished processing the environment. Mega looked around him, taking in the scenery. He appeared to be standing in the middle of a village that looked many years older than the town he was in before. The trees surrounding it had fallen leaves below it, all of them in bright reds, oranges and yellows, the colors of autumn. The cold wind breeze blew strong against Mega's face, making it quite difficult to keep his eyes wide open without stinging.

Mega's hearing started to improve as he heard faint laughter from afar. All too familiar ones. He followed them, drawing closer with each step. He had his full attention towards the faint laughter rather than his own surroundings. He let them guide him, not caring what else went on around him. The laughter grew louder and clearer until he managed to hear voices that sounded like echoes in a cave.

 _"C'mon, let me see your cat!"_ Mega heard one of the voices call out to the other. _"No!"_ the other voice responded. Mega felt drawn to the two voices and kept following them, intrigued. By what, exactly? He had no idea.

He kept on mindlessly following the two mysterious voices, almost smiling at their silliness. He walked through the crowd of people with ease without disturbing them, still on the voices' tracks. Then he started running, growing desperate to catch up with them. It was like reaching towards the moon that felt so close yet so far.

He stopped running as the voices' figures slowed down. He heard the meow of a cat, jumping into the mix. They were laughing again, they were happy. He heard the voices around him, but couldn't quite spot its physical features. Then he saw silhouettes of two kids and a cat a few meters next to him. He watched as they took turns petting the cat, the sneaky feline seeming to enjoy the attention it was getting. One of the kids had soft, light brown hair and golden eyes. The other had wavy dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Then Mega's mind clicked. He has seen this before, he had experienced it.

He began to approach the two cautiously, each step seeming to result in his heart feeling heavier and heavier. The two were still playing with the cat, not being bothered by a single thing, Mega envied that. Mega crouched slightly and looked at the two straight in the eye.

Then his heart dropped.

 _No, no, no._ Mega refused that any of it was real. His mind must be playing tricks on him. There was no way he was standing there, there was just no way.

The kid with light brown hair creepily turned his head to face Mega with a very dull expression, an expression that even Mega couldn't master. Without saying a word, the kid stood up and walked closer. Shivers were sent down Mega's spine as he backed away slowly. The other kid and the cat in the background looked as if they were frozen in time, not a single breath or movement. They were both lifeless, but somehow still maintained their previous posture.

The world around him seemed to have lost its color, every bit of it drained. It was all so lifeless, so dull, so...depressing. He was no longer in the vibrant and vivid world, that place was long gone, morphed into the very thing Mega hated most, but held dearly to his heart as if it was the only thing preventing him from going insane. Probably wasn't healthy, but why should he care?

Mega awkwardly looked down at the small and fragile human being, that is if it even was human. He waited for the strange figure to do something, or rather hoped it didn't try to do anything. His mind couldn't comprehend what was happening around him, it was struggling to keep up.

Then the figure stated two simple words that were enough to tug on Mega's emotions, as if he had the strings of a marionette, and made it seem like he was caught in the middle of a horrendous storm.

"Your...fault." It was said with a voice so gentle, but in an uncomfortable way. It sounds as if you were walking through an abandoned house and keep on hearing creepy and slightly muffled voices breathing into your ear, letting their words echo in your mind. It was a nuisance.

Just as Mega reached out, the figure faded away with black dust and mist swirling around it during the whole process. The two figures in the background went through the exact same process. Slowly, the structures around him started to fade with black dust trailing with it, then the whole world. It appeared that Mega's assumption was correct after all; all of it was nothing but an illusion, a pesky trick.

He was back in the endless void of darkness and dread, no life in sight. Mega refused to move or even think. Do you know the feeling of just having to be reminded of a past that you thought you've got rid of? When in reality it's still lurking in the depths of your mind, ready to give you a jump scare?

Past lives were frightening. How? Every time you look back at it, you start doubting your decisions you've made and think about what you could've done differently or what you could've done better. You could've let go of it and be glad of the things you've done and the things you've accomplished. But no, that's not how the world works. It isn't a place filled with cupcakes and rainbows. It is a battlefield, an obstacle course with no finish line. Although you've made it to the end of your life, your last breath, you haven't really finished your journey. There are still many things to be accomplished, many things to discover. You are simply just taking a permanent break, but no one really knows what lies after death. No one knows if you'll be free or you're still stuck in the never ending obstacle course.

Oh, how Mega wished that he was free instead of carrying the burden that was continuously growing, getting heavier on his shoulders. He would much rather lose all of the memories he's made instead of having it poking at him every two seconds.

He quietly laughed at his foolishness, little to no sound being made. All of this for a single being, a single, fragile being that had the mind of its own and is capable of backstabbing him. All of this for one pathetic being. That was the problem, they weren't considered pathetic for Mega. If they were, Mega wouldn't have gone through all that trouble.

Why couldn't they have received the same fate?

\-----

_"Mega! C'mon! I just wanna take a look!" a childish voice begged his friend. Mega huffed and turned away, teasing his friend by ignoring him. He was holding a cream-colored kitten in his arms, keeping it away from his friend, frightened that he was going to scare it, but also out of pure fun. Mega found it funny when his friend begged._

_"You're going to hurt her," Mega stated and watched as his friend continued to whine._

_"No I won't! I'll be careful, I promise!" his friend continued, using the most convincing voice he could master, which sounded more unconvincing the more he tried, at least to Mega. "C'mon now, I would never hurt a fly."_

_"You killed that one frog we found once at the lake," Mega reminded, still disturbed by the memory._

_His friend put his arms in air. "It was an accident! Besides, the frog looked old anyway, it was its time to go."_

_Mega glared at him before rolling his eyes. His friend had a tendency to speak without thinking beforehand, and that could lead to awkward situations._

_"Fine, but if you hurt her in any way, accident or not, you will regret it," Mega threatened before passing the kitten to his friend. He watched as his friend happily picked up the soft feline. That was how their days often went; Mega would bring back something new and his friend would try to get his hands on it. Often a game of cat and mouse._

_Many of the people in their village were astounded that the two were able to get along. It was like not believing that a cat and dog were able to be friends. One was energetic and playful, curious with the world around him and is amused by the smallest things, while the other was sneaky and quiet, often difficult to communicate and get along with. They have their differences, but befriending someone who is a complete polar opposite is more fun than having someone who has the same interests with you, right?_

_Just as Mega had expected, the day ended with them chasing after the poor kitten after it being startled by another kid that accidentally stepped on its small tail. Mega's friend wouldn't be able to forget Mega's upset and enraged reaction. He was grateful that he restrained his laugh or else he would've suffered the same consequence as the unfortunate kid._

_All was well and no one - excluding the kitten - got hurt, the basic requirements to conclude another joy-filled day. The two spent the other days ahead of them messing with the other kids in their village and picking at each other. It's somewhat questionable how every smile, every laugh and every form of affection could ever so easily creep into their minds and be dumped into a pile of cherished memories, making its way down to the heart where it would pull their heart strings every once in a while. They did their best to cherish the last of their youthful years, the little care for what the future would serve them almost non-existent. Youth is something that is difficult to regain for mortals. Everyone should spend the rest of their youth wisely._

_And oh how Mega wished that he spent those last years wisely._

_\-----_

_Flickering. Ashes. Dust. Fear._

_The painful spikes on Mega's skin were doing a horrible job at distracting him from the monstrous scene that was enough to become a child's worst nightmare in front of him, but the scene was bound to be anyone's nightmare nonetheless. The itch felt like the aftermath of rolling down a hill of overgrown shrubbery filled with poison ivy and prickly roses, yet it only felt like a mere mosquito bite. Mega couldn't tell if he actually has went down a hill of poison ivy or it was just the sheer feeling of worry and anticipation. Both has its similarities._

_Some people were panicking while others ran into the gushing flames, hoping to find any survivors. Slowly, more people were successfully saved, but there were still many of them trapped, their bodies most likely caught on fire and burning away as we speak._

_Mega paid little to no attention to the lucky survivors and kept observing the flames while standing behind the signs that signaled the crowd to not go any further, his eyes becoming immune to the brightness. At first, painful and irritating screams could be heard in the middle of the burning trees, but now, it was too silent for anyone's liking._

_As the last person managed to escape the forest, the flames grew even more powerful. The men helping the victims of the fire looked up with expressions of sadness and defeat. None of the men had to announce their thoughts, everyone already knew that it was all over, they've done enough. If only the summer wasn't so hot and dried out almost all their water sources, they could've saved everyone._

_A woman stood next to Mega as tears rolled down her face. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she tried to talk through her sobs. She said a simple sentence which made Mega's mood even worst than before._

_"He's gone," the woman said quietly. "He's really gone."_

_Mega placed his hand on top of the woman's backhand and stared at the fire in disbelief. If only he had pulled his hand harder. If only they had ran faster. If only he had guided him better. If only he wasn't so scared, then maybe they both would have a chance to survive._

_"I'm sorry, Zelk," he said in a hushed tone that only he could hear._

\-----

That's all that Mega was, someone who had failed their friend and is desperate to glue their forgotten friendship back together. A lost soul wandering on Earth was all that he was, quite literally. The memory was all a blur; all he remembered was the feeling of guilt consuming him, the desire of fixing everything growing every day. He remembered coughing, suffocation. He remembered the uncomfortable cold spikes up his skin. That was all that he remembered until everything went black and he awoke in a form that he was unfamiliar with. He became a wandering soul, a soul who had carried so much guilt for so long and was trapped in their own mindscape for eternity. 

Mega had dedicated the rest of his time to reunite with Zelk and more friends he had left behind. He thought that that was his moment, his chance to fix everything. But of course, it didn't go out as planned, it never did and it probably never will. He guessed that that was what lost souls do, stay lost. He didn't know why he was upset that he had failed as if the tens of times he failed in the past didn't matter. 

Mega sighed and wandered, and wandered, and wandered. He'll have to start everything over again, completely ignoring the fact that he will fail again. But he didn't care. One day, one day, he will set everything upright. 

He has infinity until he manages to do so anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look! I'm finally done! What a surprise. 
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I had a LOT of writer's block writing this and I didn't want it all to go to waste. The next oneshot will be posted soon! I have to edit it first before publishing it. 
> 
> After I post the next oneshot, I will be relaxing for a bit and focus on my exams (and my mind's state). Stay safe and stay hydrated!


	11. A Sneaky Getaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, the palace was a great place to be, but Skeppy was in desperate need of a change of scenery. Will he take the opportunity that was given to him from one of the most skilled archers at the castle and risk getting caught?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||5236 words||Fluff||  
> AU: Kingdom/Royalty AU.  
> Ship(s): Skephalo (platonic or romantic, whichever you prefer).  
> Warning(s): Mentions of knives, I guess.  
> Note: Yet, another oneshot based off of a tweet made by @bebyebeeh on twitter. You asked for Skephalo, I give you Skephalo.

_Sigh._ The day was coming to an end, which was a relief, the errands that had to be done were getting out of hand. Skeppy didn't know how others did it. If he was being honest, the whole day was mostly his father dragging him to do a bunch of tasks, with Skeppy zoning out from time to time and continuously answering a question with a "yeah" or "what?", which resulted in him getting scolded at. Not exactly fun, but what was the heir to the throne supposed to do?

Skeppy slept peacefully, but woke up to another rather boring day. He didn't need to do much, he just needed to stay in his little study room for most of the day to teach himself more about the history of his kingdom, its rules and what a king should do to look after their kingdom. His father will be quite busy for the rest of the week, so Skeppy didn't need to worry about much.

Now, he was sitting at his desk, fidgeting with a quill. It was barely noon, which surprised Skeppy because it felt like he had been there for a full day.

A small knock on his large, dark wooden door snapped him out of his thoughts, causing him to jump up in surprise and sit up right his seat, expecting someone to check on him to make sure he was actually studying instead of goofing off.

"Your majesty, one of the archers would like to speak with you," a slightly muffled voice said from the other side of the door. Skeppy still couldn't get used to the whole "majesty" thing, it felt so foreign to him despite people calling him that for a long time now. He hadn't interacted with many of the archers yet, so he braced himself for an awkward conversation as the archer walked in.

To Skeppy's relief, the archer that had come to visit him was none other than the only one he had ever interacted with. The archer was wearing his signature black, hooded cloak with crimson red in the inside of it. He had his circular, thin glasses on and wore a simple long-sleeved white top with black jeans, tall black boots and a pair of grey gloves. The archer smiled and bowed as the guards began to close the large doors.

"Bad!" Skeppy exclaimed and got up from his seat, walking over to Bad. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on the field?"

"I've been given a few days off, so I though I'd start it off by visiting my best friend."

Skeppy couldn't help but smile. He really appreciated Bad, even if he doesn't express it often. They met when they were younger at the castle's field. Bad's father was a chef in the royal kitchen and often brought Bad with him. Skeppy was playing with a wooden sword on the field and accidently bumped into Bad. Skeppy apologized and they continued to play with each other for the rest of the day. They were inseparable ever since. When Bad got older, he practiced archery and soon became an official archer of the castle. Skeppy made the right decision to convince his father to make Bad official.

Bad left Skeppy and walked over towards his desk, picking up the history book he was reading. He flipped through its pages and skimmed it.

"I never expected you to read anything historical," Bad chuckled as he mocked Skeppy. Skeppy grunted, feeling offended and snatched the book out of Bad's hands.

"I was forced to study this boring ****," Skeppy complained.

"Language, your majes- I mean you muffinhead," Bad scolded.

"Yeah, yeah."

Skeppy proceeded to sit back in his seat with his head resting on his hand. "I really wanna do something else other than sit here all day doing nothing."

Skeppy sighed as Bad let out a humming noise. Then, a lightbulb lit up in Bad's mind, making him slam both of his hands on Skeppy's desk ever so lightly, looking at the young prince in the eye. "What if you come with me downtown? There are so many fun things to do there!" Bad exclaimed excitedly.

Skeppy's eyes lit up for a few seconds before he slumped back in his seat, looking defeated. Bad tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not allowed to go downtown remember?" Bad let out an "oh" sound. "Stupid rules," Skeppy muttered under his breath.

Bad stood up again and crossed his arms, he wasn't going to give up on his best friend that easily. Skeppy has never been downtown before, and he'll regret it for the rest of his life for not taking Skeppy there, and he knew Skeppy would regret it as well. Being cooped up in the castle must be very boring and draining, Bad concluded that Skeppy was in need of a change of scenery. Moments later, his face lit up. He was hoping that his new idea was full-proof.

"How 'bout we sneak you out!" Bad suggested. "That way no one would stop us because no one will know!"

Skeppy scratched his head. "I mean...that could work, but don't you think that the staff would notice I'm gone?"

"Since the king is occupied for the rest of the week, it'll make it easier for us to sneak out," Bad said. "And don't worry about the staff, I'm sure I could convince my dad to help me out."

Skeppy smiled. It's a huge risk, but will it be worth it? Will it be worth to finally roam outside of the castle walls? To be surrounded by a new environment with new people? To discover new things that could not have been possible within the castle walls? Definitely.

Skeppy let out a long sigh. "Do we sneak out at midnight?"

Bad shook his head. "No, if anyone notices that you're gone in the morning, they'll definitely freak out. It's better to go just before noon."

The two turned their heads to the knocking on the dark wooden doors. They watched as the doors swung open, revealing a maid standing right on the other side. "I apologize for disturbing your conversation, but it is time for the prince's training session." The maid bowed and walked away.

"That's my cue to go then," Bad said as he turned to walk out of Skeppy's study room. He peered over his shoulder, looking at the young prince one last time before heading out. "Meet me at the library fifteen minutes before noon."

Skeppy nodded enthusiastically as he watched his best friend exit the room. He stood up from his desk and exited as well, taking a separate path to the field.

_Fifteen minutes before noon._

\-----

Skeppy practically jumped out of bed the next morning, he was way too excited. Skeppy thought that it was weird for someone to be so excited for going _outside,_ but in his case, he figured it wasn't all that strange. He felt like a kid who managed to convince their parents to take them to a theme park.

He finished breakfast in under ten minutes and rushed back to his bedroom to prepare for the trip. He struggled to find normal clothes since he usually wore formal or slightly over-the-top clothing, the only "normal" clothing being his training outfit and night clothes. He shuffled through his wardrobe and tossed the clothing that he thought was normal enough to the side.

He settled with a simple, white, long-sleeved top with a light blue vest that was made out of silk and had laces down the middle over it. Instead of his usual footwear that had intricate design of silver and gold, he settled for a pair of dark brown boots. that he used for training. He didn't think he'd need to bring anything, but grabbed an old, brown satchel that he used as a kid anyway, just incase.

Before he exited, he quickly grabbed a diamond bracelet and a sack of money that was kept away in his drawer. Probably wasn't the safest idea, but he knew what he was doing. (I hope).

He carefully opened the door to not alert any of the guards and sneaked through the hallway. Bad said that he would take care of the staff, so that put Skeppy at ease, but he was still wary. In all honesty, what could an archer do to distract the whole royal staff?

He made his way down the hall and into the library. The library had thousands, probably hundred thousands of books put away in its tall bookshelves. Skeppy rarely visited the library, so he struggled to navigate through it. He thought of calling out for Bad, but feared that there may be staff in the library that could hear him. He wandered around the library looking for Bad. Skeppy wished that Bad had given him the exact location.

After a solid couple of minutes, he spotted something brown glinting in the sunlight that was shining through a small skylight from the corner of his eye. He turned towards the direction and spotted Bad sitting on a small wooden chair reading a book. Skeppy sprinted towards him and and startled him from behind by giving him a quick hug. Bad dropped his book and turned to Skeppy.

"Skeppy! Don't scare me like that, you muffinhead!" Bad scolded but also chuckled as he pushed Skeppy away. He scanned Skeppy's outfit, from top to bottom, and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have any more normal clothes?"

Skeppy looked down at his outfit and looked at bad with a confused expression. "What do you mean? This is the most normal outfit I got!"

"Yeah, but it still makes you look like you come from a rich family, it'll grab some unwanted attention," Bad said, seeming to gesture towards Skeppy's vest. "Hold on."

Bad stood behind Skeppy and took off his cloak, putting it on the young prince. Skeppy peered over his shoulder as he raised an eyebrow until Bad put up the hood over Skeppy's head. Skeppy pushed away some strands of hair and touched the cloak, still confused on what was going on.

"Uh..?"

"It'll cover you up well enough so people won't recognize you," Bad said with a satisfied smile.

"Won't it seem suspicious for someone to walk around like this?" Skeppy asked, gesturing to himself.

"I walk around like that most of the time," Bad said. "Plus, you'd be surprised how many people walk around like that on a daily basis."

Before Skeppy could say another word, Bad grabbed his wrist and guided him through the library. They passed countless bookshelves to the point Skeppy thought that the library was infinite, but after a few minutes of walking, his thought was proved wrong. They were standing in front of two large curtains that seem to be worn out. Bad pulled on the curtain's rope and revealed an also worn out wooden door behind it.

"What the..?" Skeppy muttered out.

"These are old doors that leads to secret hallways used by staff to get around the castle," Bad said. "But it went unused for the last fourteen years due to the king's orders."

"How do you know about this?" Skeppy asked curiously.

"My dad used to take me through these hallways before they were shut down," Bad shrugged. He pushed on the door and watched as it shot open with a loud creak. They both coughed as dust filled the air. Bad grabbed Skeppy's hand once again and carefully guided him through the narrow hallways and down a slightly crooked, cobblestone staircase. Moss had made their way onto the stone walls with a few other small plants growing in between the cracks. Bad wasn't kidding when he said that the place was abandoned.

They met another old wooden door that had more moss growing on it. Bad attempted to push on the door, but it didn't budge, so he proceeded to kick down the door and almost fall over as it shot open, causing Skeppy to almost yell out of surprise.

They walked through the door and was now standing in the royal kitchen. The kitchen was vacant, despite it almost being lunch. Skeppy had the urge to ask Bad, but he assumed that Bad told his father about their getaway, and since his father was a royal chef he must've done something to make sure there were no cooks in the kitchen.

They exited the kitchen into the castle garden. Bad took Skeppy towards a large bush and pushed him into it.

"What thee heck, Bad?" Skeppy complained.

"Just crawl towards the small opening. I'll be right behind you," Bad assured Skeppy.

"Opening?" Skeppy looked behind him and indeed spotted an opening that was big enough for him to crawl through. By then, Skeppy started to doubt the castle's security and his safety. Either the "secret" passageways were really hidden, there are no people that had interest to break in or there are people who wished to break in, but are just really dumb.

Skeppy crawled through the tight space and found himself outside the castle walls. He gazed up the tall walls with amazement and disbelief. He was actually standing outside the walls, and he didn't get caught. His heart beat rapidly in his chest out of excitement. He was in such disbelief that he didn't even notice Bad come out of the tight space he was in a few seconds ago. Bad waved his arms in front of Skeppy, trying to get his attention.

"Skeppy? Skeppy, snap out of it!"

Skeppy shook his head and faced Bad. "Oh? Uh, yeah, sorry."

Bad rolled his eyes and grabbed Skeppy's hand again. Was grabbing others' hand with no warning whatsoever a thing here? Skeppy thought. They ran down the path towards town, dry leaves crunching under their feet as they did so.

"Wait, wait, wait, timeout," Skeppy suddenly said which caused them to abruptly stop.

"What is it?" Bad asked.

"I'll need a fake name so you can call out for me without revealing who I am," Skeppy said. Bad nodded, agreeing with him. It would be a terrible idea if he were to call out Skeppy by his actual name.

"How about something simple, like...Zak!" Bad suggested.

"Zak?" Skeppy said, almost mockingly.

"It's better than nothing," Bad said.

"Okay, okay, fine." They both continued to sprint down the path and straight to town.

Town square was buzzing with citizens up and about. Since it was lunch time, the place was packed with people entering and exiting countless restaurants and stores. The smell of freshly baked goods and cooked meals filled the air that made Skeppy starve. He was too focused on sneaking out to realize how hungry he was. Bad noticed and tugged on Skeppy's wrist.

"Why don't we go to that restaurant over there?" Bad pointed at a small and semi-crowded restaurant not so far from them.

Skeppy nodded a little too enthusiastically than he intended to. He didn't care what they ate, he just needed some food right about now. 

_An episode of eating later..._

"Sk- Zak, why didn't you tell me you were that hungry?" Bad laughed upon seeing a now very full prince.

"The food was just really good, okay?" Skeppy defended himself. "I've never had anything like it!"

"I figured that you may be sick of the castle food," Bad said, almost feeling bad for him. Well, he did feel bad for him, he just didn't admit it.

"Eh, it's good, just got bored of it..." Skeppy trailed off as he spotted an interesting attraction from afar. The said "attraction" had a man sitting behind a desk on the ground with three cups in front of him. People huddled around the desk as the man shuffled the cups. A younger man pointed at one of the cups and the man lift it up, revealing nothing. The younger man seemed upset as he handed a small sack to the man behind the desk. Skeppy was drawn to it for some reason, so without thinking, he sprinted towards the crowd.

"Wh- H-Hey! S- Zak, wait up!" Bad called out and ran after him. Who knew someone who was cooped up in a palace for their whole life could be so quick? He felt like he was babysitting a toddler all of a sudden.

The man behind the desk gathered the three cups and settled them under his desk, replacing them with new ones.

"Alright, who's ne-" the man jumped as Skeppy made his way in front of him and looked at him straight in the eye. "Uh...may I help you?"

"I'd like to try whatever it is you're doing," Skeppy said, fumbling with his words.

"Ah, well it's simple," the man said with an innocent smile. "I place a coin under one of these cups and shuffle them up, all you need to do is guess which cup the coin is in. If you guess correctly, you get to keep your money and I give you some of mine. If you guess incorrectly, I'll take all the money you're betting."

Skeppy felt a shot of confidence slow through him and reached into his satchel, practically throwing the sack of coins he brought onto the desk. "Seems simple enough."

The man stared at the sack of money in almost disbelief, but he didn't say another word and proceeded to put a coin under a cup. Skeppy watched carefully as the man shuffled the cups at an abnormal speed, but he was able to keep. A few seconds passed by and the man stopped, looking up at Skeppy. "Time for your guess, young man."

Skeppy smirked and began examining the cups one by one, making sure that he guessed correctly. Before he got the chance to answer, someone grabbed his arm tightly from behind him. He peered over his shoulder to be met with a rather distressed amd exhausted Bad.

"I'm sorry but my friend isn't allowed to participate in these... _activities,_ " Bad said with a tone that surprised Skeppy. Bad snatched the sack of coins from the desk and pulled Skeppy away from the crowd, earning a few glares.

"Hey! Come back! You can't leave before you make a guess!" Bad ignored the man and kept tugging Skeppy away from the commotion. Once they were far away, Skeppy broke free from the grip and stared at Bad.

"What the heck? Why did you do that?" Skeppy exclaimed out of confusion. He was still in disbelief that his best friend could act rather harsh.

"That entertainment is a scam," Bad said, making air quotes when he said 'entertainment'. "They trick you and end up always getting your money."

"Oh..." Skeppy breathed out. Now that Bad had explained, he felt like a fool and was ashamed.

Bad's face softened as he sighed. "It's alright. You've never went downtown so you couldn't have known the dangers."

Skeppy smiled and didn't feel ashamed of himself anymore. He made a mental note to be more careful next time...

Oh, c'mon.

Skeppy turned his gaze towards a crowded building that had people laughing and goofing off on the outside and inside. It had a large target sign on the top of it. Skeppy sprinted towards the building, completely forgetting what had happened just a few seconds ago.

"S-Zak?! Dang it, not again!" Bad exclaimed and let out a frustrated sigh as he chased after the reckless prince yet again.

Skeppy opened the door and took in the sight of the place. There were many targets around the room and what seemed like sharp blades stuck in them. There were many people sitting and laughing with and at each other at a table or even standing up. Skeppy only grew more curious.

Bad appeared behind him, panting and breathing heavily. He put his hand on Skeppy's shoulder so he knew that he was there.

"Zak, _please_ stop running off like that again! That was the second time today!" Bad exclaimed but Skeppy had his full attention on the place.

"Bad, what is this place?" Skeppy asked. It took Bad a moment to realize where they were standing, but when he did, his face lit up.

"Oh! This is where people hold knife throwing competitions," Bad said excitedly. "Sometimes they just come here for fun."

"Knife throwing competitions?" _What the heck is that?_

Before Skeppy could question any further, a man walked up to them. He was around Bad's height and had black hair with a white bandana tied around his forehead, keeping his bangs away from his face. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with a black vest and a pair of leather shoes. He smiled towards Bad and watched as Bad waved at him. _Who the heck is this guy?_

"Hey, Bad!" the man said. 

"Sapnap?" Bad asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Sapnap said. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" 

"I've been given a few days off."

"Okay then." Sapnap noticed Skeppy standing right behind Bad and tilted his head. "Who do you have here?"

Bad peered over his shoulder and saw an awkwardly standing Skeppy. "Oh, he's um...a friend of mine that I met a few days ago."

"Really?" Sapnap said. "What's your name?"

Skeppy zoned back in, almost startled by the question. He gathered his senses and answered, almost messing up his words. "Zak."

"Well, nice to meet you." Sapnap turned his attention towards Bad. "Are you here to compete again?"

_What?_

"What do you mean 'compete'?" Skeppy asked. The longer he stayed there the more confused he got.

Bad awkwardly laughed. "I used to compete in these knife throwing competitions," he hesitated.

Skeppy's jaw dropped. He thought he knew everything there was to know about his best friend, but apparantly not. It was barely even nighttime and he had already learned so much more about Bad.

"Really?!" Skeppy said, still in shock.

"You'd be surprised at how good he was," Sapnap laughed, remembering the time when Bad completely owned the three best competitors. That was when Sapnap was still getting the hang of the basics. "Hey, why don't you try it again? Let's see if you still got it," Sapnap challenged.

"I don't know, Sapnap..." Bad said, unsure. It had been a while since he had competed. Ever since he got his job as a royal archer, he had quit competing in knife throwing competitions. He was afraid that he had forgotten everything he learnt and mess up, accidently harming something or someone.

"Oh, c'mon Bad!" Sapnap begged. "It'll be fun! Besides, I bet your friend is interested in seeing you in action."

Skeppy nodded and looked over to Bad with pleading eyes. Bad sighed, seeming to give in. He guessed he had to make this day count. Skeppy would be upset to miss the chance of seeing his best friend compete.

"Okay, okay, fine I'll do it," Bad said. Both Sapnap and Skeppy gave a small cheer as Bad took his place at one of the areas. Some of he staff members recognized Bad and gave him a small greeting. Bad took a knife from a barrel and swung it around his wrist, getting comfortable with it. Skeppy was surprised that he didn't earn a single scratch from that. They watched as Bad stared at the target in front of him for a couple of seconds. Skeppy noticed that he seemed nervous. Maybe he should tell him to stop if he really doesn't want to do it?

Before he could get anywhere near Bad, he fell backwards as Bad threw the sharp blade that could easily cut open someone. They watched as the blade pierced through the center of the target with ease. Bad lowered his extended arm and let out a sigh of relief. He smiled and let out a surprised yelp as Skeppy and Sapnap ran towards him and embraced him in a tight hug.

"See! You still got it!" Sapnap exclaimed as he let go of the hug.

Skeppy let go as well and looked at Bad with a proud and still in shock expression. "Why didn't you tell me you could do that?! And can you teach me?"

Bad chuckled. "It isn't that simple, you know? It takes lots of practice and confidence. Besides, it's just throwing a blade into a target, it isn't that interesting."

Sapnap leaned towards Skeppy and spoke to him in a hushed tone that was enough for both him and Bad to hear. "Don't listen to him, the competitions get intense."

Bad rolled his eyes and had the urge to punch Sapnap in the arm, but resisted it. "C'mon, let's get going, we don't want to spend the rest of the day here," Bad told Skeppy. Skeppy nodded, feeling a bit disappointed. Maybe he can watch his best friend in action another time. 

They headed to the door and waved back at Sapnap before exiting. It was now evening and people were once again up and about ready for dinner. Bad tried to convince Skeppy to eat soup and other hot meals with him, but Skeppy refused. Bad ignored him and proceeded to drag him to the restaurant, dealing with his whines. But to Bad's delight, after Skeppy took one bite of his meal, his eyes widened with pure satisfaction and surprise. Bad made an 'I told you so' face that made Skeppy roll his eyes. 

There were many attractions at night, all of which are not scams and are actually entertaining. There were people juggling, dancing, singing and there was a small puppet show that Bad was interested in. They both went to the small puppet show, watching the show as if they were little kids again. Most of the crowd were children, the parents being at the very back. They blended into the crowd of adults, hoping no one would notice that they were actually intrigued in the show. 

They spent the rest of the day hanging out, accompanying each other. Skeppy asked a truckload of questions, half of them Bad avoided, but not in a negative way, more of in a too-tired-to-answer-them kind of way. I mean, could you blame him? Escorting your royal friend through an extremely foreign place to him is pretty draining, especially if said friend won't stay put and is stubborn.

Bad ran out of ideas on what to show Skeppy until he spotted a familiar landmark that brought back a large chunk of his childhood memory.

He tugged on Skeppy's sleeve, making him zone back into reality. "Skeppy, I have one more thing to show you," he whispered.

Bad proceeded to drag Skeppy towards the place he was referring to. Skeppy was left confused until Bad started to guide him up a tall hill. There was a narrow dirt path with old fences that they could follow. The path was sort of slippery so they took their time guiding each other.

There were very few people up on the hill, most of them already leaving. They took a spot on a flat area at the top of the hill that overlooked the whole town. The area had wide, flat rocks that worked as benches. They both took their seat on one. Skeppy stared in awe at the town below him, the castle towers reaching into the starry night sky just beyond it. He didn't get a view like the one he was seeing from his bedroom. Every time he looked out his bedroom window, all he saw were trees and the moon, but now, he could see everything. The lights from below looked like a group of fireflies. Skeppy brought his knees to his chest as he kept admiring the view.

"Beautiful, right?" Bad said, looking over to Skeppy. He reached out his hand over the prince's head and pulled down the hood of his cloak. Skeppy turned to face Bad with a surprised look.

"Wh-"

"Relax, there's no one up here."

Skeppy nodded and went back to what he was doing. "Is this what you always do outside of the castle?"

Bad slowly nodded. "Yeah, but it's less fun without you."

Skeppy couldn't help but smile, it was very heartwarming. Then, something clicked in his mind. He quickly reached into his satchel and brought out the diamond bracelet he brought that morning.

"Bad, I have something to give you," Skeppy said. Bad turned to Skeppy and raised an eyebrow. "Give me your wrist."

Bad did as he was told and gave out his wrist while looking at Skeppy, curious as to what Skeppy was giving him. Moments later, Bad stared in shock as Skeppy proceeded to put the bracelet around his wrist. As soon as he was done, Bad pulled his wrist back.

"What's wrong?" Skeppy asked casually.

"What's wrong?" Bad repeated. "This is a diamond bracelet! You can't just give it to me, it's worth a lot! It's very dangerous to carry a valuable item around town, Skeppy!"

"Are you done?" Skeppy asked.

"The point is, why?"

Skeppy took a deep breath and turned away. "Well, you have been my best friend for a while now, and I feel like I haven't given you much, so consider it as a thank you gift. A thank you gift for shoeing me around."

Bad was a lost for words. He didn't know how to respond to that. "I just think this is too much-"

"Just something to remind you of me," Skeppy interrupted him. "So keep it safe."

Bad shut his mouth and gave in. Skeppy was rarely like this, so the least he could do was to accept it.

"Then you can keep my cloak," Bad said.

"Really?" Skeppy asked, surprised. Bad nodded and felt a warm weight added onto him. Skeppy brought him into a hug and waited as Bad returned it. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying each other's company. In just a few hours, Skeppy would have to go back to the castle and do his duties as a prince. The thought of Skeppy having to take his place as king soon haunts Bad every night. When his best friend becomes king, they will have less time to spend with each other. Bad would see Skeppy less often and left disappointed at the end of the day, so he cherished every second he has left before the time comes. 

Skeppy was just as scared as Bad, he didn't think he was ready, he knew he wasn't ready. The whole kingdom was going to be his responsibility soon, and with one slip up, it could all break down. There were times that he had the urge to just run away forever with Bad's help, but never got to do so since the kingdom may fall after a while, and it will all be his fault. 

Then again...what's the big deal? They'll still see each other from time to time, so why were they worrying? I guess you could say it's the common fear for the future. So, in the mean time, they decided to spend every other day as usual, without a single care of what the future has to offer. 

They'll surely still stay by each other's side, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY- finally done. The ending part was written with an empty imagination so please excuse it :') Never thought I'd take the AU idea seriously but here we are. 
> 
> Also, I have another one-shot planned, so stay tuned for that!
> 
> How many skephalo one-shots have I written already? Like, 3? Istg this is gonna turn into a skephalo one-shot book sooner or later /j
> 
> Not sure how I feel about this one but eh, too late now.


	12. Rest Up, You'll Need It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno was working non-stop on his English project that was due soon to the point where he lost sense of time and life. Luckily, he has his roommate to drag him out of the sad, dark hole he was in (to Techno's disappointment).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||1635 words||hurt/comfort-ish||  
> AU: College AU.  
> Warning(s): None.  
> Ship(s): Rivalstwt (platonic, obviously, don't think otherwise you pricks).  
> Note: Get your rivalstwt crumbs here 👇

The faint sounds of typing could barely be heard from Techno's room in the afternoon. He felt his eyes drooping and his back stiffening after every minute went by, but somehow he managed to push the mild discomfort away. He was working on a huge English project that was due in a couple of weeks which pressured him to finish it as soon as possible.

Techno wasn't the type of person to do large presentations in front of a huge crowd, but he had to do it if he wants to get a good grade. At this point, all Techno cared was that he at least got the grade required to pass.

He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it had just struck 1 pm. He had been sitting at his desk for five hours straight, it was no wonder he felt so sore and tired. He had been so fixed on finishing the project that he had completely lost his sense of time. 

He brought his hand to his mouth and coughed. He looked at his empty bottle of water and sighed, he figured that he was dehydrated. Did he even drink water after he woke up? He couldn't remember. 

He got up from his desk and struggled to balance. He was sitting for so long that he felt cramps everywhere. He stretched for a few seconds, producing several cracking sounds. He knew that it was probably unhealthy, but he rarely got ill, so why would this be any different?

He tiredly made his way to the living room that was connected to the small kitchen. His eyes were tired and everything was still sore, despite him already stretching. 

As he was about to enter the living room, something warm was brought to the front of his face, causing him to blink in surprise. It took him a second to realize that it was a hot drink in a plastic bag. He tilted his head to get a view of who was holding it out, and to no surprise, it was none other than his roommate. 

He was wearing a white, smiley mask and a classic green hoodie with a pear of sweatpants. He looked like he had just got home. 

His roommate lowered his mask with his free hand and faced Techno. "Thirsty?" 

Techno gave him a small and unsure smile, taking the plastic bag containing the cup. "Yeah," he answered with a raspy voice. He guessed he was so dehydrated. 

"Yeesh, I already told you to stay hydrated," his roommate said. 

"And where have you been, Dream?" Techno asked, a cough escaping him mid-sentence. 

"I already told you that I headed out to meet up with Sapnap and George, remember?" Dream reminded Techno. Techno shrugged, he probably forgot. 

Before Techno could make his way back to his room, Dream tugged him into the living room and forced him to sit on the couch. Dream set his drink on the coffee table in front of them and fell onto the couch, causing Techno to bounce slightly.

Techno stared blankly at his drink, as if it was some machinery that he had no idea how to operate. Dream looked over him with a confused expression. 

"It's tea, drink it. It'll fix that sore throat of yours," Dream chuckled. 

Techno huffed and opened the cup, sipping the tea, careful not to burn his mouth in the process. "I prefer coffee."

"You'll get coffee later, when you get better," Dream told him. 

"Who said I was sick?" Techno asked.

"I didn't say that you were sick, just more... _tired_ than usual," Dream stated. "Seriously, relax more often."

Techno rolled his eyes. Ever since he met Dream, his first impression of him was that he was the type of person to be all nosy with their friends and was overall very energetic, unlike Techno. Well, he is, but he's also a pretty nice guy to be around it; friendly. Though, they'd always say that they're rivals. 

"Nah, I need to get this presentation done, it's due soon," Techno told him and began to stand up, until Dream pull him down. 

"No, working for hours straight will just get you nowhere. Plus, it's unhealthy," Dream said sternly. "Speaking from experience."

Dream vividly remembered the days when he was in high school and often overworked himself. His sister would bring his food upstairs since he was so fixed on getting ready for his finals to go to college that he didn't want to waste any time. He remembered the all-nighters he used to pull with his friends who were also slightly stressing out over exams and their finals. Knowing that you're friends were on the same boat as you was a good thing to experience and a happy memory that Dream cherished, but everything else in between, from the overworking to learning a whole semester in a day, wasn't an all that fun experience. 

When he noticed Techno going through the same thing, minus the hanging out with friends part, he did his best to make sure he doesn't suffer like he did. 

Dream sighed. "Look, working and learning is good, especially when you get a good grade in the end, but too much work is bad. Trust me, you'll regret it someday."

Techno faced the floor as he took another sip of his tea. He wouldn't admit it but the tea was really helping with his sore throat, Dream was right after all. 

He took Dream's sentence into consideration and sighed. He supposed that he was correct. He had been overworking for the past month and he must say, it wasn't a lovely experience. 

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. I'll take a break," Techno said. "Maximum two days, though."

"That's fair, you don't want to get an F," Dream said. "Besides, you've been absent from fencing for a while now. You may have lost all your skills for all I know."

Techno scoffed. "Don't be messing with me, I'm still better than you at fencing."

Dream laughed. "Let's hope that you still got it or else I'd lose the only challenge I had."

"Oh?" Techno said. "So you're admitting that no one else is better than me?"

Dream lightly punched Techno in the arm. "No, I'm still better than a pink-haired anime boy."

"Says the literal homeless green teletuby," Techno mocked. 

"I'm not homeless! I literally live here!"

"Yeah, but you were when you first begged me to accept you as my roommate."

"Now that's just-"

The two continued bickering for the rest of the afternoon, completely forgetting about their drinks. Although he wouldn't admit it, Techno did miss the days they'd use to argue about the stupidest things and often challenged one another, making everything a competition the first weeks of being roommates. Well, Dream did more of the competing, Techno agreed solely because he wanted - no, needed - to prove that he was better. 

Dream was right, everyone needs to take a breath every once in a while. It goes a long way. 

\-----

Techno held his graded paper as he walked out of the classroom, letting out a heavy sigh. He finally got through with it and made it out with a grade higher than the one required to pass. He considered it an absolute win. 

He carefully stuffed his paper into his bag and made his way to the courtyard where other students usually go to to relax after long classes. Techno didn't usually go outside, he'd much rather prefer some time to himself. But he wanted to see why students enjoyed it so much, it seemed relaxing. 

There were a few trees in the courtyard that gave shade from the sunlight under it. Techno made his way over one and set down his bag, bringing out a book and started to read. He tied his hair into a ponytail, due to the heat

He guessed it wasn't too bad. The sun was nice, the grass was surprisingly somewhat soft and there were barely any smoke polluting the place, unlike the busy streets that lie outside of campus. 

The sound of footsteps quickening its pace could be heard nearing Techno. He was met yet again with his roommate, Dream. Before he could say anything, Dream took a seat next to him and dumped his bag onto the grassy floor. 

"To be honest, this is the last place I would think of to find you," Dream said, quite surprised. 

"I'm surprised too," Techno said, not looking up from his book. 

Dream scooted a little bit closer and peered over Techno's shoulder, peeking at his book. "What are you reading?"

"A book."

Dream sat back in his place, disappointed with the answer he received. "So, how was the presentation? What did the teacher give you?"

"It was fine, the teacher gave me anxiety," Techno said. 

Dream laughed. "That's great but you know what I meant!"

Techno set down his book on his lap and brought out his graded paper. "I got a B+. I consider it a win, you only need a C- to pass."

Techno smiled when Dream gave him two thumbs up and stuffed his paper bag in his bag. Techno returned to reading his book, but he only stared at it for a solid few seconds. He turned his head towards Dream and saw that he was texting on his phone. He sighed, closing his book which grabbed Dream's attention. 

"Yeah, Techno?"

Techno scratched the back of his neck as he gathered his words. "Uh, thank you, I guess, for the advice you gave me a while back," he said. "And the tea. The tea helped with the sore throat."

Dream smiled and brought his hand towards Techno, placing it on his shoulder. "Anytime, pig man."

Anytime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, it's short but I wanted to take a breath ;) and do something simple with the rivals and not some in depth plot.
> 
> I've been in a rivals mood lately, so... 👀 I may write in depth one-shots with these two in the future ;]


End file.
